share interactive transcript request transcript/captions live captions
download
|
MyPlaylist
DAVID WINITSKY: Well, there's been a round of applause, so I guess I'd better get up here. Good evening, everybody. My name is David Winitsky. I am very proud to be a visiting lecturer here at Cornell University's School of Media Arts. And more importantly, I'm directing to see this performance of-- where is he? Fred Cohn's fantastic play-- Enough To Go.
[APPLAUSE]
[INAUDIBLE] I just wanted to give you just a brief little bit of context about the play. We've been calling it a new, old play. It's the play that Fred wrote a while and that we're bringing back. It's been really fun to dig into it and think about the way that things have changed since it was written.
What you're about to see is a semi-staged reading. So the actors will be here with their scripts. They will-- there's some movement and some things happening during the reading. But mostly, I'd like to call this lectern performance. So this is an opportunity for us to listen to the text of Fred's play and hear what he has to say about the world.
There is one short intermission today. The whole show, including the intermission should-- will certainly be under 90 minutes, maybe even 80. So make it a quick intermission. Come back from the bathroom. We'll go from here. I think that's about it. We're thrilled that you're all here and enjoy enough-- oh, and actually, I'm going to turn this over to Jonathon [INAUDIBLE] from [INAUDIBLE]. Thanks, so much.
[APPLAUSE]
SPEAKER 1: I'm so honored and delighted that you're all here this evening. This is a moment that I've actually been dreaming of for about 35 years.
[LAUGHTER]
Fred is an old, old friend. And I was there when this play was born. And it's still being recorded. We are going to begin in a second. It is also-- it is for me and for us a very special day. And it is also a very sad day. And I wanted to just take a few seconds for us to note those who we lost in Jersey City last night before we begin. Thank you. And now, we are going to begin.
SPEAKER 2: Enough To Go by Fred Cohn. "Place of the play-- New York City in the last building on the block. Time-- summer. Act 1, scene 1-- Mr. Glotsky's room-- remote furnishings-- a bed, a chair, a table in a kitchen corner. There's a phone in one window. Glotsky bundled up in an old coat, shivering, despite the heat.
SPEAKER 1: Ice on the windows. A window. One window. It's enough when I think of all the crap it looks out on to.
[STOMP]
I'm freezing my ass off up here, Cohn.
[BARKING]
God damn it. I'm stuck with dogs now.
[STOMPING]
What am I'm asking for? It's such a big deal. A little heat. You couldn't throw up a little heat? So what am I? Five floors, six floors up. Push myself out a window this high up to land in garbage and not even get hurt? Humiliating. I have had the privilege of seeing this neighborhood change. It was never any good. You hear stories, little scandals about little lies.
Last one on the block to know. Last one alive to tell them. Some privilege. Senior citizen. Some privileged class that is. You think I'm going to run when this place burns down-- collect all my things and run? Where am I going to run? To the country, maybe? I should go on a Greyhound bus in a flowered shirt with the racing form.
When this place burns down to the ground, which wouldn't be low enough for this building, and it'll go like a match box all flame, too, no one will even bother calling the fire department. That fast in a flash, I will take that ride down in bed, off my feet. It'll be hot enough then. All the heat I'll need then. And someone else will have to see this neighborhood changed and live to tell of it."
SPEAKER 2: "Scene 2-- interior of Irving and Rose Cohn's apartment. The back door leads to the building's hallway and entrance. Another door leads to the bedroom offstage. There's a kitchen and a window. A light pole is suspended from a call center. Down straight center, there's a sofa and a table. There's also the phone. Before the lights come to full, we hear the sound of banging.
[STOMPING]
SPEAKER 3: Now, run already! Get out of here! You're leaving scuff marks on the floor. It's the first one I ever saw in here ever. In all my years, cockroaches? Not in here. Never.
[CLANK]
That was brought in.
[LAUGHTER]
SPEAKER 4: Such an ordeal. Such an ordeal."
SPEAKER 3: "You had an ordeal today?"
SPEAKER 4: "Yeah. All of a sudden, things got difficult. I bought oranges-- Jaffas. They peel easier. I say to myself, what are you buying fruit for? Nobody eats it. It just goes bad, so what are you buying it for? Vitamin C-- a voice says to me."
SPEAKER 3: "A voice?"
SPEAKER 4: "Yeah, a voice. Wow. No, me. I [INAUDIBLE]. Irving?"
SPEAKER 3: "What is it, Rose?"
SPEAKER 4: "I wasn't buying oranges for the vitamins. I was buying oranges, because I like oranges. What was I lying to myself for?"
SPEAKER 3: "What's the secret? Who want's to know why you're buying oranges?"
SPEAKER 4: "I walked into the supermarket and right away it became a quiz show. I was held up half an hour in the produce section, deciding whether it was carrots or celery that's good for your eyes."
SPEAKER 3: "Carrots."
SPEAKER 4: "Yeah, sure. And varicose veins. Broccoli. I didn't know either."
SPEAKER 3: "You bought broccoli?"
SPEAKER 4: "No, you hate broccoli. I bought some support hose."
[LAUGHTER]
SPEAKER 3: "Your Aunt Esther called."
SPEAKER 4: From Schenectady?
SPEAKER 3: "She called about 2 minutes-- 10 minutes ago."
SPEAKER 4: "Serious? Did she say?"
SPEAKER 3: "Whenever your Aunt Esther calls and I answer, It's serious. Right away, she wants to know what I'm doing home at 3:00 in the afternoon. Aunt Esther, I say, I'm the super in this building. I have to be home at 3:00 in the afternoon. Yeah, yeah, she says. But are you at least looking for work?"
[LAUGHTER]
SPEAKER 4: "She wants to make arrangements for Lakewood this weekend."
SPEAKER 3: "Lakewood? The Lincoln Hotel on the 4th of July? Not this year. Rose, we're packed and leaving for Florida. This year in Florida-- clean beaches, palm trees, the open invitation from your cousin, Bernie, who for 25 years never spoke to us when he lived in the Bronx. Lakewood? We can skip this year. Tomorrow morning-- we're out of here."
SPEAKER 4: "But Esther and Manny look forward to it. So we'll be saying goodbye to the old neighborhood."
SPEAKER 3: "It hasn't been an old neighborhood in 15 years."
SPEAKER 4: "We'll be with family."
SPEAKER 3: "Your family."
SPEAKER 4: "It means so much to Esther. She's practically my mother. When mom died, she should rest in peace. Esther raised me with a full house of her own kids. And she would have taken care of her own, too."
SPEAKER 3: "But you took care of that.
SPEAKER 4: My younger brother-- her nephew. It means a lot to her, too. One last time we'll get together and have a few laughs."
SPEAKER 3: "Get together and laugh. Laugh or cry, Rose? The lines on my face all come in these wrinkles."
SPEAKER 4: "Oh, they should all be laugh lines. It wouldn't hurt."
SPEAKER 3: "Who would ever admit laughing so much in one lifetime?
[LAUGHTER]
This was a peaceful neighborhood once, a quiet neighborhood once. That's all there was-- one quiet, peaceful neighborhood after another. No more. I notified the landlord. Last week, I wrote Walter Kapalman in a letter and told him we were retiring. He'll be by to settle up with us, collect the keys, and then we'll go."
SPEAKER 4: "It'll be good to get away. We'll relax by the lake, away from the heat this summer. And this winter in Florida, we won't have to worry about it being too cold in this city. Ooh, it gets so cold. I never got used to that."
SPEAKER 3: "The cold, the heat."
SPEAKER 4: "The Claremont Arms, our first apartment-- no cross ventilation, not even a breeze. But it wasn't such a dump."
SPEAKER 3: "It was a dump. One lousy window, room for one on the fire escape. And half the time, the window swelled from the heat so much, you couldn't even get out there."
SPEAKER 4: "You spent a lot of time leaning out that window."
SPEAKER 3: "I used to stare out that window late at night, because I couldn't sleep. It was so stifling hot. I never told you this, Rose. Out over the courtyard in the building across from us, there was this guy standing in front of his window just like me. He must have been there every night, looking out, unable to sleep.
You'd be reading. And the light would be on my back. So I'm sure he must have seen me, my outline framed in that window. Anyway, that's all I could see of him, just this outline of a man across the way too hot to sleep. You don't have to do anything but stare out the window. I think we must have stared at each other for the same reason."
SPEAKER 4: "You never made a sign to him, not a wave?"
SPEAKER 3: "It didn't seem necessary. He was there every night. It was just after I got laid off from that trucking outfit. You and I took a vacation. We were gone a week. By that time, the summer was almost over. And we were planning to come here. The heat had lifted.
And I could of slept, but I went to the window anyway. Rose, so this man is at his window one day. And he's not there the next. I can't tell you how I felt. I wasn't there for one week. We went away. So what must he think when he doesn't see me at the window for so long? He doesn't show up anymore."
SPEAKER 4: "He died down. Maybe he was able to sleep."
SPEAKER 3: "He wasn't there for whatever reasons. But he knew he was staying away. We knew that about each other. I went to the window the next night. He wasn't there. The night after that, no one. He misunderstood my absence and gave up, so then I gave up. Some time later, I found out that he had moved. No longer there and that was all."
SPEAKER 4: "I'll call Aunt Esther and tell her to expect us tomorrow. She always looks forward to seeing us."
SPEAKER 3: "We'll all celebrate our independence.
SPEAKER 4: "Fireworks on the lake. You always enjoyed that."
SPEAKER 3: "Yeah, when it doesn't rain. It rained last year. It poured."
SPEAKER 4: "You'll help me, Irving. I need your help. There's a lot to do yet. Oh, all these boxes."
SPEAKER 3: "A couple boxes."
SPEAKER 4: "It accumulates. You have no idea. So much of this we'll never even use-- wedding gifts, anniversary gifts. It just collects in this drawer under the bed in the back drawer in the closet. So much we save. And we never appreciated it. One day, we drag it out, so we shouldn't get left behind.
SPEAKER 3: "At least we don't have to schlep this furniture. The landlord can have this lousy sofa."
SPEAKER 4: "Colonial-- it's well made."
SPEAKER 3: "This junk lasts forever. What are cleaning, Rose?"
SPEAKER 4: "The papers. They have to be all over? Make a pile. That you could do from your chair.
SPEAKER 3: "[INAUDIBLE], and you're straightening up. The landlord comes to claim the keys. He should have a clean hallway. Weekend in Lakewood. Big extravaganza that used to be."
SPEAKER 4: "The good old days."
SPEAKER 3: "We were young, so they were good. One lousy weekend in July we'd be free to do what we wanted."
SPEAKER 4: "Soon we'll have plenty of free time."
SPEAKER 3: "I'm not looking to be free. Old man Kapalman wants clean halls. Well, I'll tell you something. I stopped sweeping the halls when he stopped buying the brooms."
SPEAKER 4: "That was a while ago."
SPEAKER 3: "Well, what's he got to tell me? Thanks, Mr. Cohn. You've been a real help. Have a good time in Florida. When was the last time you came here-- four years ago when he called me on the phone?"
SPEAKER 4: "Well, he won't have any trouble finding the building."
SPEAKER 3: "If he can locate the neighborhood."
SPEAKER 4: "If Mr. Kapalman wants his keys, he'll be by."
SPEAKER 3: "He'll be by. This building is coming apart. For years, I told him about the wiring. I told him he better take a look. Didn't want to hear about it. Do something, Mr. Cohn. What? Put a Band-Aid on it? Hide it? It's an open wound.
The fire department wanted to cut the current when they took a look at these basement wires, except Mr. Glotsky threatened to burn down the place if they cut the power. Housing authorities told him last fall. [INAUDIBLE], I mean. They told him, get it done or else. So this week I get a phone call to say that someone would be by. They can rip it out and start all over for what it's worth."
SPEAKER 4: "Mr. Glotsky left you a note in the mailbox this morning."
SPEAKER 3: "He leaves notes now? Usually, he calls. So what did he write?"
SPEAKER 4: "His phone isn't working. You should come up and look at it."
SPEAKER 3: "I don't do phones. Let him write the phone company."
SPEAKER 4: "And that if you couldn't come by, you should call him to make a reservation."
SPEAKER 3: "How much was he planning to spend?"
SPEAKER 4: "Go take a look. He's up there all alone. He's old, Irving. It's probably nothing."
SPEAKER 3: "Yeah, probably is nothing, like the other times I swept up there. He comes to the door with this worried look on his face, hurries me in. And for an hour, he makes me flush the toilet, turn on the faucets, look at the drain like a checkout. Nothing wrong, just wants house calls."
"Mr. Glotsky is the last tenant in this building besides your brother, that is. And the old man fixed things around here for a long time. And if Herb has his way, he'll fix it so nobody lives here. And you are starting to sound like you'll just let him do it."
SPEAKER 4: "I had a meeting tonight. You and Herb can have a friendly chat while I'm gone."
SPEAKER 3: "Herb takes a little trip to the country to cool down? It poured for three days."
SPEAKER 4: "Oh, Irving."
SPEAKER 3: "He made it rain."
SPEAKER 4: "It didn't only rain in Lakewood."
SPEAKER 3: "A week before we leave, he starts in with his rain chat. It's going to rain. Why go? It's going to rain all weekend."
SPEAKER 4: "And he plays on your fears."
SPEAKER 3: "He shares them. Stuck inside playing cards for three days."
SPEAKER 4: "It rained everywhere. He doesn't have control of the weather."
SPEAKER 3: "He aggravates it. That's enough."
SPEAKER 4: "You sit there and convinced yourself into believing whatever he had invents."
SPEAKER 3: "Rose?"
SPEAKER 4: "He fills you with this nonsense. It means nothing. This is just his way to not come to Lakewood this year. Herb will come with us. It'll all work out."
SPEAKER 3: "He's up to no good, that brother of yours. And you are just ready to walk out as if it's nothing/"
SPEAKER 4: "Irving, what about our plans? One last weekend in Lakewood with friends and family and then what we've been dreaming of-- Florida, finally. It'll be good. You'll see. Herb will cooperate. Irving, what is it?"
SPEAKER 3: "Nothing."
SPEAKER 4: "Something. Tell me what it is.
SPEAKER 3: "It's exactly this, Rose. I start you worrying when there's nothing to worry about. You're right. We're supposed to enjoy ourselves now. We should be looking forward, not back. Forward to Florida."
SPEAKER 4: "And Lakewood. Herb won't be down for another hour. In the meantime, you could look in on Mr. Glotsky. He gets out less and less. He hasn't checked his mail since last Tuesday."
SPEAKER 3: "Glotsky still gets mail. And I should look in on him. Every day the man goes out to the stoop for half an hour and looks around. 2 o'clock, 2:15-- there he is, half way up to his room and exhausted. He's an old man with bad feet, making an afternoon out of a couple of flights of stairs. I'd go out and help him, Rose. I'd be glad to carry him the rest of the way if just once he'd smile or grunt politely. But instead, Mr. Glotsky would rather wait until I grow old, and my feet go bad, and nobody helps me either."
SPEAKER 2: "Herb makes his way to the refrigerator.
SPEAKER 4: "We're going to eat soon, Irving. Here, you take this meal up to him. And when you-- then you go look at his phone."
SPEAKER 3: "He gets more mail than we do. I never really thought about what we'd do when it was time to leave this place. I never said when we'd retire, we'd pack this all up. Go. Thinking about retirement always made it sound like we were just waiting around for the next thing."
SPEAKER 4: "You'll wait another hour. We'll eat. That's not so bad."
SPEAKER 3: "Rosalind, the way you cook, it's a lifetime between meals."
SPEAKER 4: "No, go already, mister superintendent. You get one more day. And it's all done."
SPEAKER 3: "Superintendent and mailman."
SPEAKER 2: "Scene 3-- Mr. Glotsky's room."
SPEAKER 1: "Eddie? Eddie Schoenberg? Eddie packed his things and left a long time ago. Whatever he couldn't carry, stayed behind. The rest of it, including some sort of grasp on the situation, meager though it was, still an insight into the way things were going. The rest-- he carried up here, rent free.
On the morning of his departure-- and I'll never forget this as long as I live-- Eddie looked up and down the block as if he'd never seen it before. Never seen anything like it before. I remember Eddie. I remember you standing there on the stoop with your bags and your thoughts, not sure where you've been or where you were going.
Just there. Eddie? I remember you putting your bags down and walking away. Eddie never actually left the block-- got as far as the corner's sweet shop, which he entered out of force of habit, bought a nickel cigar and went back upstairs to his little room. Of course, there were those who argued that Eddie actually did pick up and leave. Something left that day."
SPEAKER 2: "Scene 4-- Herb enters casually dressed, except for two wildly mismatched socks. Herb goes to the refrigerator, opens the door, whereupon a large quantity of oranges falls out on top of him."
[THUMPS]
SPEAKER 4: "Herbert!"
SPEAKER 5: "Rose?"
SPEAKER 4: "All over the floor."
SPEAKER 5: "You got over a hundred oranges here. Rose, what's the--"
SPEAKER 4: "They'll all go bad and then-- help me, Herbert. Don't you see them on the floor? They'll go bad and no one will eat them."
SPEAKER 2: "He puts the oranges under the sink and back in the cabinets."
SPEAKER 4: "You come wait for dinner, just like everyone else."
SPEAKER 5: "What's with all the fruit, Rosie? Come on. "The fruit won't go bad."
SPEAKER 4: "Won't go bad? You don't know much, do you? I shouldn't have to worry about these things one moment. Irv wants to go to Florida. The next, he doesn't. Not to Florida, not even to Lakewood. He's afraid to go. And I'm afraid to stay."
SPEAKER 5: "He wants to go to Florida. What are you dragging him to Lakewood for?"
SPEAKER 4: "Don't you start now. Don't start defending Irving, just because you don't want to come. You don't want to? You don't have to. Lakewood will be good for him. He'll rest."
SPEAKER 5: "Rosie, you're retiring. You'll have plenty of time to rest. There are other things more important right now."
SPEAKER 4: "Herbert, we mustn't upset Irving by telling him a lot of things he doesn't want to hear. He's got his hands full trying to put everything in order. He has so much on his mind. You have to be patient."
SPEAKER 5: "He doesn't give me a chance."
SPEAKER 4: "You mustn't be so hard on him."
SPEAKER 5: "He's hard on himself, Rosie. He thinks everyone's just like him-- honest from the word go. Who's he fooling? I'll tell you-- himself. You know something? He fools himself about how honest he is, too. Irv cheats on his taxes just like the rest of us. He cheats at poker, too. Only, he isn't any good at it. Now, all he has to do is sit back and let it fall into his lap. But Irv-- he won't have any part of it."
SPEAKER 4: "I don't know what to do. Everyone's moved away. But we stayed here, because it's all we know. But everything we knew is gone now."
SPEAKER 5: "Hey, remember when we were kids and we used to play in the sand lots and pretend it was the desert? Remember that?"
SPEAKER 4: "Of course I do."
SPEAKER 5: "We'd pretended we were shipwrecked and had to survive on just a bottle of water and some stale bread. In the day, the summer would beat down. It'd cook us alive. Night would come. It'd get cold. And we'd almost freeze to death."
SPEAKER 4: "Oh, those cold desert nights."
SPEAKER 5: "Nothing to hold the heat in. We had to huddle together to stay warm. the night was so dark, just a sliver of the moon in the desert. Hoo! We'd build small fires to keep the night away. Hoo! It's like [INAUDIBLE]."
SPEAKER 4: "Aunt Esther calls."
SPEAKER 5: "Rosella?"
SPEAKER 4: "[INAUDIBLE]".
SPEAKER 5: "Shh."
SPEAKER 4: "We have to be going."
SPEAKER 5: "In a little while."
SPEAKER 4: "Now."
SPEAKER 5: "Oh, Rosie, by the fire, your hair would glow. You've got such beautiful hair, Rosie.
SPEAKER 4: "Oh, my hair doesn't glow anymore."
SPEAKER 5: "You glow, big sister. You're what keeps us warm."
SPEAKER 4: "Oh, Herbert."
SPEAKER 5: "It's not so bad, huh?"
SPEAKER 4: "My dear brother."
SPEAKER 5: "A couple oranges get bruised. It's not at the end of the world. Nothing to be afraid of. You and Irv will be warm this winter in the sun. Everything will work out, just like you always said it was. You'll see."
SPEAKER 4: "Herbert?"
SPEAKER 5: "Promise?"
SPEAKER 4: "You'll come with us this weekend. (SINGING) On the lake."
SPEAKER 5: (SINGING) "On the lake. Yeah. All right. All right. I'll come."
SPEAKER 4: "Herbert, you could try a little harder to understand Irving, too."
SPEAKER 5: "I'll try."
SPEAKER 4: "Talk to him."
SPEAKER 5: "I'll talk to him."
SPEAKER 4: "He listens to you."
SPEAKER 3: "You can't talk to him.
[SMACK]
SPEAKER 5: "Glotsky?"
SPEAKER 3: "30 years. And he's still hearing dogs from the empty apartment below. And he can barely hear me with all the barking between his ears. He ripped his phone off the wall. Why? Because the wall is dead."
SPEAKER 4: "Wash up, dear, and we'll eat."
SPEAKER 2: "He notices Herb's socks."
SPEAKER 3: "What's that supposed to mean?"
SPEAKER 5: "What do you mean?"
SPEAKER 3: "Your socks don't match."
SPEAKER 5: "Which one doesn't match?"
[LAUGHTER]
SPEAKER 3: "Is that some kind of a statement?"
SPEAKER 5: "Everything we do has to be some kind of statement? What's the matter? You don't make a statement the way you dress?"
SPEAKER 3: "What's the matter with the way I dress? My socks match."
[LAUGHTER]
"Something wrong with my clothes, Rosie?"
SPEAKER 4: "Oh, they're very nice. Here, come sit down."
SPEAKER 2: "They all sit at the table."
SPEAKER 4: "Gloria Schneider had on a lovely shawl this afternoon, knitted in a net. You know what I mean."
SPEAKER 5: "I suppose even Gloria has her reasons."
SPEAKER 3: "Maybe she feels trapped."
SPEAKER 2: "Herb offers his plate."
SPEAKER 3: "Rose [INAUDIBLE]? Anyway, you clash."
SPEAKER 2: "Rose offers Herb some food."
SPEAKER 4: "Herbert?"
SPEAKER 5: "Oh, no thanks. This is perfectly color coordinated."
SPEAKER 4: "You aren't eating a thing. Irv, pass me Herb's plate."
SPEAKER 2: "She fills Herb's plate."
SPEAKER 4: "You don't like my noodle pudding."
SPEAKER 5: "That's fine, Rosaline. I'll get fat as a house."
SPEAKER 4: "Look who's talking. He'll get fatter than a house."
SPEAKER 3: "Rose, don't start.
SPEAKER 4: Thin as a rail. I'm worried about overeating."
SPEAKER 3: "Well, am I supposed to get the hint?"
SPEAKER 5: I'll have some carrots."
SPEAKER 3: "Oh, Look who's hungry all of a sudden?"
SPEAKER 5: "Eat early? Am I stopping you from eating?"
SPEAKER 3: "Change your thought. Rose, you want me to stop eating? I'll stop."
SPEAKER 4: "He'll change his thoughts after supper. Eat, Irving. I understand a lot of men dress that way."
SPEAKER 5: "So what if they do?"
SPEAKER 4: "It means something, I say."
SPEAKER 5: "What's that supposed to mean?"
SPEAKER 3: "Oh, leave him alone, Rose. Can you see he's flaunting his coordination?"
SPEAKER 5: "Hey, Rose, what about the noodle pudding?"
SPEAKER 2: 'Rose serves him a big portion. And Herb advances his plate."
SPEAKER 4: "Maybe you could-- we can have some leftover for tomorrow."
SPEAKER 5: "Hey, it's delicious, Rosie."
SPEAKER 3: "I thought you weren't hungry."
SPEAKER 4: "Herb?"
SPEAKER 3: "I was beginning to worry. I thought maybe he lost his appetite."
SPEAKER 5: "You don't have to be hungry to enjoy Rosalind's cooking."
SPEAKER 3: "Well, I happen to be hungry, so eat."
SPEAKER 4: "Does it have to be like this every time we sit down to a meal together? Can't you boys just enjoy each other's company?"
SPEAKER 5: "I enjoy Irv's company."
SPEAKER 3: "Can I help it if I make good company?"
SPEAKER 5: "Yeah, thanks."
[LAUGHTER]
SPEAKER 3: "Keep it up, Herb."
SPEAKER 4: "Herbie, pass me your plate."
SPEAKER 3: "It's time. What time is your meeting tonight, dear?"
SPEAKER 4: "8 o'clock. It shouldn't be over too late. Old business and new business, but mostly old business. Still, it's an evening out."
SPEAKER 5: "Yeah, at least you get out."
SPEAKER 4: "Oh, a little get together. Some cake, some coffee. Most of the older women in the chapter who don't get a chance to socialize."
SPEAKER 3: "And since when are you an older woman?"
SPEAKER 4: "Well--
SPEAKER 3: "You're a kid."
SPEAKER 4: "Yeah, yeah. By you, I'll always be a kid."
SPEAKER 5: "I'm stuffed.
SPEAKER 3: Rose, you really think of yourself as an older woman?"
SPEAKER 4: "Oh, you make it sound as if I said oldest woman."
SPEAKER 3: "All of a sudden, I'm living with an older woman."
[LAUGHTER]
SPEAKER 4: "Gloria Schneider is coming by to pick me up. Irving, a piece of fruit."
SPEAKER 3: "Later."
SPEAKER 5: "So Gloria has a car, huh?"
SPEAKER 4: "A cab."
SPEAKER 5: "She has a cab?"
SPEAKER 4: "She's coming by in a cab. What's the big deal?" Oops, that's your line.
SPEAKER 3: "What's the big deal? You want her to take the subway? It's all the way on the other side of town where to go."
SPEAKER 4: "Have some fruit, Herb?"
SPEAKER 5: "Anyway, the subway is not so bad."
SPEAKER 3: "Bad enough. You should take a cab home, too. There's no reason for you to be in the subway at night."
SPEAKER 5: "Maybe I've taken a cab twice since I've been in the city. I've been here my whole life."
SPEAKER 3: "You never go anywhere. So it'll cost a little more. Whatever it'll be, better than the subway."
SPEAKER 5: "Gloria is going to come by? She's going to let the meter run?"
SPEAKER 3: "This is a problem."
SPEAKER 4: "She'll come."
SPEAKER 3: "There's a million cars in New York. You're going to know which one is for you?"
SPEAKER 4: "It's all arranged. Three short honks. That'll be Gloria. Irving, a piece of fruit.
[HONKING]
That must be her."
SPEAKER 3: "No, I only counted two honks."
SPEAKER 5: "You only heard two honks."
[LAUGHTER]
SPEAKER 3: "How many did you hear, wise guy?"
SPEAKER 4: "I wasn't listening."
SPEAKER 3: "So why don't you just keep your big trap shut, so we could listen to the damn horn?"
SPEAKER 4: "All I'm saying is that maybe there were three honks, and you only heard two of them-- the last two. Maybe you missed the first one and only counted second and the third."
SPEAKER 3: "You are sick."
SPEAKER 2: "Rose goes to the window."
SPEAKER 3: "Well?"
SPEAKER 4: "I don't see her."
SPEAKER 3: "Maybe you missed the first one."
[LAUGHTER]
SPEAKER 5: "You can count masel tovs."
[HONKING]
SPEAKER 4: "That's Gloria. Now, guys, do the dishes. Don't just leave them in the sink, please. I shouldn't be home late. And don't leave the fruit out.
SPEAKER 3: "Have a good time, dear. Give my best to Gloria and take a cab home, too. Clean up."
SPEAKER 2: "Herb grabs the newspaper and flops into the sofa. Herb starts rummaging through the newspapers through and around the apartment."
SPEAKER 3: "If you're going through last week's papers, maybe you could throw away the ones you've already read."
SPEAKER 5: "I've read these. Make a pile. I'll throw them out, everything but today's. You got papers here from last month."
SPEAKER 2: "Irv takes the paper he's sitting on and tosses it before Herb."
SPEAKER 5: "Thanks."
SPEAKER 3: "What are you slouching for?"
SPEAKER 5: "I'm standing straight.
SPEAKER 3: "It's that cot just sleep on."
SPEAKER 5: "Hey, leave my cot out of this."
SPEAKER 3: "I've noticed how on edge you've been lately."
SPEAKER 5: "These are poor tactics, Irv."
SPEAKER 3: "Finding it difficult to relax? Herb, your sister has the same problem."
SPEAKER 5: "Rose?"
SPEAKER 3: "Moments of consternation in the produce department."
SPEAKER 5: "Rose? Moments of what?"
SPEAKER 3: "Yeah, it's hard to believe, but you have to understand."
SPEAKER 5: "Consternation?"
SPEAKER 3: "A woman varicose veins. Why shouldn't she buy support hose? Are you eating all of your vegetables, Herb?"
SPEAKER 5: "I don't get it."
SPEAKER 3: "Let me see your legs."
SPEAKER 5: "Irv, I don't like what the hell you're talking about."
SPEAKER 3: "Come on, Herb. We'll have a chat. Rose wants us to chat."
SPEAKER 5: "To chat."
SPEAKER 3: "You're unhappy?"
SPEAKER 5: "You come out with it just like that? That's a question? You have to work up to it. That's what the weather is for, the Yankees, the neighbors' kids."
SPEAKER 3: "You want a piece of fruit?"
SPEAKER 5: "No."
SPEAKER 3: "I'll peel you an orange. [INAUDIBLE], hey, you can peel it yourself."
SPEAKER 5: "But you don't have a piece of cake?"
SPEAKER 3: "Rose is watching my weight."
SPEAKER 5: "But you're alone evenings."
SPEAKER 3: "Not every evening. She has meetings. She goes. She gets up."
SPEAKER 5: "An active woman."
SPEAKER 3: "Plenty of years-- Rose worked when I was figuring things out. She'd like to tell me that. You're just figuring things out. You'll see. But I couldn't see. I wasn't figuring anything out. I was struggling. She was always a hard worker, not like me. When we met, she was part time at Alexander's on Fordham Road. You were still a little [INAUDIBLE] living with your Aunt Esther and the kids.
Rose worked her way up to full time in the bookkeeping department. Even now, she manages all of our bills, still makes sure we have savings, always smart with the money. So shoot. She goes out with her girlfriends. What's she going to do here? Sit home and watch television? Hey, Rose is a good woman. She's my best friend."
SPEAKER 5: "Yeah, yeah, I know.
SPEAKER 3: "What do you know?
SPEAKER 5: "Irv, can we just not talk about it?"
SPEAKER 3: "We're not talking about anything. This is a chat. We're chatting. Not supposed to do any good anyway."
SPEAKER 5: "Do who any good? Rose wants you to talk to me, so you can do some good?"
SPEAKER 3: "You Love to avoid conversation. Tell me what you don't want to talk about. And we won't talk about it."
SPEAKER 5: "You don't need me. You carry out a perfectly good conversation all by yourself."
SPEAKER 3: "I know what you're trying to do."
SPEAKER 5: "Do I got to spell it out for you?"
SPEAKER 3: "Spell it out for yourself."
SPEAKER 5: "You think it's easy living alone?"
SPEAKER 3: "It's not. It's living alone. It's you and yourself, nothing more. Now, there are plenty of nice women out there who-- oh, forget it."
SPEAKER 5: "Say it. Say what you're going say."
SPEAKER 3: "You're struggling, Herbert."
SPEAKER 5: "I'm figuring things out."
SPEAKER 3: "Go out and socialize."
SPEAKER 5: "It looks like you got married so you didn't have to socialize"
SPEAKER 3: "We'll socialize plenty in Florida. Herb, you're family. Rose loves you like a brother."
SPEAKER 5: "I am her brother."
SPEAKER 3: "She worries about you. She lies awake at night. Herb?"
SPEAKER 5: "What?"
SPEAKER 3: Your sister can't worry with the light off. At 3:00 in the morning, she does her best worries. Do you understand what I'm telling you?"
SPEAKER 5: "Then I should get married so you can get a good night's sleep? "Listen, Irv, you got your plans. I've got mine."
SPEAKER 3: "Your sister has plans. Rose has talked about moving to Florida for as long as I can remember. She would like you to be settled somewhere before we go. Personally, what you do is your business, but it's simple, Herb. You start in with this nonsense about setting fire to this building. And you'll do it with me inside, because I'm not stepping foot out of here, until you make up your mind to forget the whole idea. It's crazy."
SPEAKER 5: "All right. So you have to be a little crazy, but there's a market for crazy people and for buyers, especially in this neighborhood. It's done all the time, Herb. Not the whole block, sometimes not even the entire building. But here and there we get started. No one gets caught and everyone gets paid."
SPEAKER 3: "And who's paying you?"
SPEAKER 5: "Who do you think, Irv? Who stands to make the most?"
SPEAKER 3: "Well, Kapalman isn't coming here to talk about a fire."
SPEAKER 5: "I know. He's lucky the building will burn down all by itself."
SPEAKER 3: "Then who? God?"
SPEAKER 5: "Glotsky."
SPEAKER 3: "What? God wrote you a check?"
SPEAKER 5: "No, not God. Glotsky. Mr. Glotsky."
SPEAKER 3: "Glotsky gave you money?"
SPEAKER 2: "Herb produces an envelope."
SPEAKER 5: "A small advance on what Kapalman is going to pay, which is going to be plenty."
SPEAKER 3: "Now, I know you're insane. Glotsky is giving you envelopes full of money? He doesn't have two nickels to rub together."
SPEAKER 5: "Glotsky is only the go-between"
SPEAKER 3: "Oh, will you listen to yourself? This is a fantasy you've concocted in your head. Glotsky the go-between. He can barely go between his apartment and the street. You think he's meeting-- who do you think he's meeting? No one."
SPEAKER 5: "You should be grateful. I'm doing this for you and Rose. The money is part of it."
SPEAKER 3: "The money is part of it. And what about the other part?"
SPEAKER 5: "The other part is I like it. I like it enough to do it for free. One more stinking rundown building that the world forgot about. Besides, you could use a few extra bucks."
SPEAKER 2: "Irv grabs Herb by the shoulder and shakes him."
SPEAKER 3: "[INAUDIBLE] would I tell your sister that in addition to being a lunatic pyromaniac, you're doing it for us for a few extra bucks?"
SPEAKER 2: "Herb pushes Irv away forcefully."
SPEAKER 5: "Stand in my way, Irving, and you'll only be preventing me from doing this."
SPEAKER 3: "Do you see what this comes to? Do you hear yourself? You are talking like a cheap criminal."
SPEAKER 2: "Irv grabs the newspaper, falls into the couch. He spots a cockroach on the floor and swings at it."
SPEAKER 3: "Damn it. As long as I can remember, I never saw a roach in here. Now, all of a sudden, I got visitors."
SPEAKER 5: "All of a sudden?"
SPEAKER 3: "Never before."
SPEAKER 5: "The building is crawling with it. You think I live alone? I don't live alone. I have plenty of company. You're so surprised?"
[STOMP]
SPEAKER 2: "Herb stomps the roach this time with a rolled newspaper. He swings on target."
[STOMP]
SPEAKER 5: "You got it!"
SPEAKER 3: "I got it. Him, it, whatever. It's an it."
SPEAKER 5: "A dead it."
SPEAKER 3: "A bug."
SPEAKER 2: "Scene 6-- Glotsky's room."
[HOWLING]
Glotsky takes a small hammer from his coat pocket and wraps it tightly on the floor. The dogs, first few, than most, stopped barking. The last dog finally succumbs to the tapping. A knock on the door."
[KNOCKING]
SPEAKER 6: "Mr. Cohn? This is Roxy Electric."
SPEAKER 3: "So?"
SPEAKER 6: "I got a call from [INAUDIBLE] for Mr. [INAUDIBLE]."
SPEAKER 2: "Herb opens the door."
SPEAKER 3: "It is kind of late, aren't you?"
SPEAKER 6: "Well, it's nice out. I keep longer hours. Summertime-- still light for me-- evenings. This is a pretty old building."
SPEAKER 3: "It was old when it was built." Well, there's the patient. You'll need a ladder. I don't have one."
SPEAKER 6: "I've got one in the truck. Where's your fuse box? I'd like to cut the juice before I get my hands up there."
SPEAKER 3: "It's in the cellar. You'll have to take the street entrance to get down there."
SPEAKER 5: "You work for Roxy Electric, huh?"
SPEAKER 6: "I am Roxy Electric? You heard of us?"
SPEAKER 5: "No."
SPEAKER 3: "This way."
SPEAKER 2: "The light comes up on Glotsky's room. He's looking out the window."
SPEAKER 5: "Roxy Electric. She says Kapalman sent her."
SPEAKER 3: "It's news to me."
SPEAKER 5: "She says she got a call."
SPEAKER 1: "Roxy, from up here, you've got what looks like a nice truck."
SPEAKER 3: "Electricians always pick the wrong time to come. Did you ever notice?
SPEAKER 1: "You give a good look at that cellar."
SPEAKER 5: "She seems like a nice enough fellow, huh?"
SPEAKER 3: "Did I say that she wasn't nice?"
SPEAKER 5: "Why are you so keyed up?"
SPEAKER 3: "Rip up the ceiling for what? They'll condemn this place as soon as we're gone. Let her get in and get out."
SPEAKER 2: "The electrician re-enters with the ladder."
SPEAKER 6: "That's one hell of a fuse box you got there, mister. A real brute."
SPEAKER 5: "Hey, you work alone?"
SPEAKER 6: "Yep. My wife used to help out. She's an expert electrician, but we're divorced now. And she's got her own business-- does better than me. Would you believe it?"
SPEAKER 3: "Do you want me to hold the ladder?"
SPEAKER 6: "You're not union or nothing, are you?"
SPEAKER 3: "No."
SPEAKER 6: "You can hold it if you want."
SPEAKER 3: "I don't want to hold it. I asked you if you wanted me to hold it."
SPEAKER 6: "OK, I want you to hold it."
SPEAKER 3: "Fine."
SPEAKER 2: "She climbs up and examines the light."
SPEAKER 6: "Aha."
SPEAKER 5: "Is it serious?
SPEAKER 3: "Of course it's serious."
SPEAKER 6: "It Isn't that serious. You could use-- with a few more lights here in this place. You've got very poor lighting. Shadows everywhere."
SPEAKER 3: "Yeah, I'll take it up with the interior decorator when he comes. So what's the story? Is it a big job or what?"
SPEAKER 6: "Oh, you're going to have to find a specialist."
SPEAKER 3: "What are you supposed to be?"
SPEAKER 6: "Look, I admit. On the paper, it's simple. You got red wires. And you got black wires. Sometimes you get a yellow or a green one thrown in. It's a question of knowing where they go. I got to figure that you have a couple hundred dollars worth of work here. I'd like to do this job. I could give the card."
SPEAKER 3: "My brother-in-law here could get up on that ladder and tell me what you are telling me."
SPEAKER 5: "Hey, it's her ladder."
SPEAKER 6: "You damn right it's my ladder."
SPEAKER 3: "All right. All right. Temperamental."
SPEAKER 6: "You're all the same, every one of you. You worked miracles for free. Uh-oh.
SPEAKER 3: "What is it?"
SPEAKER 6: "Please."
SPEAKER 5: "A specialist would know by now."
SPEAKER 3: "What's there to know?" You got red and green wires. She said so herself. So maybe you can't be color blind, but you don't need a PhD to get up on a ladder."
SPEAKER 6: "But don't kid yourself. I put in my time at this altitude. You get to see plenty from up here.
SPEAKER 5: "Look, I live on the sixth floor. I could philosophize, too. But I'm too winded from holding my breath, because it stinks in the hallway. It stinks in the hallway on the sixth floor."
SPEAKER 3: "So what is it, doc?"
SPEAKER 6: "It's a very old building."
SPEAKER 3: "Do I have light or darkness?"
SPEAKER 6: "You want light from this bulb? Put it in a lamp."
SPEAKER 3: "Put it in a letter and send it to the landlord. Who recommended you, anyway?"
SPEAKER 6: "I am just here to give you an estimate."
SPEAKER 3: "I didn't ask for an estimate."
SPEAKER 6: "I got a call from Victor Kapalman out at the Village Realty. He wanted an estimate, and that's what I'm giving him. You want to pay me? I'll fix it."
SPEAKER 3: "Victor? You got the wrong Kapalman, pal. It's Walter Kapalman,"
SPEAKER 6: "This is his nephew. Old Walter, the uncle, died months ago."
SPEAKER 3: "He died?"
SPEAKER 6: "Last winter."
SPEAKER 3: "Kapalman?"
SPEAKER 6: "Yeah, the kid runs the business now. Left him 12 buildings. And this one is one of the better locations."
SPEAKER 3: "Died, huh? He wasn't that old."
SPEAKER 5: "Looks like one hell of a big job."
SPEAKER 6: "To be perfectly honest with you, rewiring this fixture isn't going to do any good at all. It's that fuse box. I have never seen anything like it."
SPEAKER 3: "It's a real brute."
SPEAKER 6: "You got a real fire hazard down there, Walter. That's wired for fire."
SPEAKER 3: "Well, you managed to cut current pretty good, didn't you? There's no light in the refrigerator. I'm standing here in front of the dark refrigerator. You cut my current. I will not stand here and watch my appliances die."
SPEAKER 6: "Hey, mister, you better be careful. I wouldn't if I were you. You could get a hell of a jolt from that box."
SPEAKER 5: "Irving, you got live wires down there."
SPEAKER 3: "Well, maybe your wife can do this job."
SPEAKER 6: "Mildred? Go ahead and call her."
SPEAKER 5: "I can see how your wife has such a good business."
SPEAKER 6: "She could do this job. She's damn good and expensive."
SPEAKER 3: "Have you no pride?"
SPEAKER 6: "No. And I don't mind telling you that I'm going to have to bill you for this."
SPEAKER 3: "For what?"
SPEAKER 6: "For this estimate."
SPEAKER 3: "What? My estimate? You come in here. You set up your ladder. You pull the plug on my apartment and you took over."
SPEAKER 6: "No one gives free estimates anymore. You know how much a plumber gets just to come in and look at your toilet? I got to eat, too."
SPEAKER 3: "Oh, you're breaking my heart."
SPEAKER 6: "You want to pay me for the parts and labor? I could have the part restored in a couple of days."
SPEAKER 3: "Couple of days?"
SPEAKER 6: "Tomorrow at the earliest. I got another three calls to do this evening. I'm sorry."
SPEAKER 3: "You're sorry? You shorted out my lifestyle. We're supposed to sit in the dark and wait for you to return? Whatever happened to professional ethics?"
SPEAKER 6: "I'm doing you a favor, pal. That box is a real fire hazard. Ethically, I should report this to the authorities. By the way, you ought to notify the super that he's going to have to have this place inspected, probably condemned."
SPEAKER 5: "Hey, Mr. Cohn is the supe. He's well aware."
SPEAKER 6: "You're the super? And you're surprised about this? You're the super? And you've never been in the cellar? Well, then, I'll be back tomorrow."
SPEAKER 3: "And bring [INAUDIBLE] with you."
SPEAKER 6: "Yeah."
SPEAKER 2: "Scene 8. Glotsky scurries about his room. He carries some of his choice possessions."
SPEAKER 1: "This way. That way. Zig, zag, zig."
SPEAKER 2: "He examines, accepts, and rejects each article of clothing,"
SPEAKER 1: "It's easier to just do and shut up. Sit and stare at my hands. Better to just do and be caught up, than to have all that catching up to do."
SPEAKER 2: "He puts on some clothing and places others in a small satchel."
SPEAKER 1: "Little patterns from here to there, to here. Little paths. Better to just move and be moving. Stay in one place and it lasts forever."
SPEAKER 2: "Scene 9-- back in the living room."
SPEAKER 5: "Do you ever notice how it stinks in here-- in the building, I mean?"
SPEAKER 3: "I don't feel like smelling."
SPEAKER 5: "So how do you feel?"
SPEAKER 3: "Fine, thanks."
SPEAKER 5: "You feel helpless."
SPEAKER 3: "I feel like sitting quietly, if you don't mind."
SPEAKER 5: "The electrician should go in and out of here fast, just like you said, Irv. I guess you'll need some help with hooking up the electric."
SPEAKER 3: "I'm not hooking up anything. Couple of hours in the dark isn't going to make any difference. Tomorrow we're off to Lakewood and then on to Rose's cousin, Bernie, in Florida. What do I need lights for? Something I don't see?"
SPEAKER 5: "Maybe Mr. Glotsky could lend you a hand. He knows this building pretty well."
SPEAKER 3: "Mr. Glotsky is retired, and he'll stay that way."
SPEAKER 5: "It'd only be inviting trouble, I guess. Still I'd give him a chance to get out."
SPEAKER 3: "He gets out. I was up there today. We didn't exactly sit around and trade building jokes. July and he's yelling for more heat. I don't know. One day, he just snapped. Somehow it turned to winter in his mind. And he blames me. You want me to call him? You want me to listen for the umpteenth time I stole his job from him? How he'd a wealthy man today if it hadn't been for me?"
SPEAKER 5: "Glotsky has his own ideas. He's sorry. You did [INAUDIBLE]."
SPEAKER 3: "Dude, do I look like a wealthy man to you? He was the super here for years when Rose and I first moved in and then for quite a long time after that. So what does he feel? In his mind, I ran him out of business."
SPEAKER 5: "And then the business ran out on you. You've got plans for all this, Irv. Pack it up in little neat packages and send it off to the son"
SPEAKER 3: "Say, son, we're ready to--"
SPEAKER 5: "Hey, you'll travel. You'll visit. You'll move around Lakewood, then Florida. It's a big country. It's not like they got it fenced in. You plan for it. You could away with a little something extra."
SPEAKER 3: "We've already got more than we can carry."
SPEAKER 5: "You've got boxes. You think you could just pack all the years up in boxes and slap a label on them? You had the years in here. You have to count the years, Irv."
SPEAKER 3: "Stop counting low enough to go away."
SPEAKER 5: "But you don't. You count everything. Every day, you come up with the total or else you lose count and it all gets lost."
SPEAKER 3: "So your big idea to come out ahead. Ahead of what? What did you ever invest in that I should count everything and throw in a match on my way out?"
SPEAKER 5: "You're retiring on a shoestring, mister superintendent. How is it that the landlord managed to turn such a big profit?"
SPEAKER 3: "Settle with me before we leave."
SPEAKER 5: "That's a fantasy, I hope you're prepared to wait in the dock until he shows. Even I've been down in the cellar. You really ought to check it out."
SPEAKER 3: "This is as low as I go. Mr. Kapalman and I will reach an agreement."
SPEAKER 5: "Mr. Kapalman incorporated. Who do you think you're dealing with, Irv? Some friendly guy who just happens to own the building? A gentleman's agreement? When was the last time you saw him? Never."
SPEAKER 3: "Plenty of times."
SPEAKER 5: "Young Kapalman? Victor? You don't even know what he looks like."
SPEAKER 3: "I'll recognize him."
SPEAKER 5: "Not if you're looking for a gentleman. Kapalman is a businessman. Money-- that's his business. The money this building doesn't make anymore. If he comes riding in to save the day, look for him on as high horse of finance."
SPEAKER 1: "Better watch your step, Cohn. The high horse the finance tends to shit all over things."
SPEAKER 5: "Have you been down to the cellar lately, Irv? I know. I know plenty of times you used to run this place. You were proud of the way you had it tuned, the way this building hummed. But lately, the cellar-- how could you have possibly seen the wires in the cellar?
You have to take the street entrance to go there. You'd go out onto the street. Just step outside. You can't miss it. It's the only other entrance on the block. Didn't you ever wonder where all the other buildings went? Really, you think he's going to make you an offer? What are you selling me? He's so eager to buy. You're leaving. You're out of his way. The buildings-- they didn't just disappear."
SPEAKER 3: "You're making a big stink over nothing."
SPEAKER 5: "Use your imagination. We want to spend as little as possible to cover up the stench."
SPEAKER 3: "You try fire in someone else's living room."
SPEAKER 5: "This is the only one left in the neighborhood. Kapalman sent that electrician just to scare you off. He has plans to this place. And if it's true that the wiring is shot, can you think of a better alibi when all of a sudden, the building goes up like a box of matches? He wants you packed and out of here."
SPEAKER 3: "We'll conduct ourselves like gentlemen."
SPEAKER 5: "You'll lose. Businessman meets superman. You don't stand a chance. Play his game, Irving. Fight fire with fire."
SPEAKER 3: "I'm not playing."
SPEAKER 2: "Herb offers Irv the envelope."
SPEAKER 5: "He's going to want it done. The money doesn't burn, just the building."
SPEAKER 3: "You're out of your mind, Herb. You need help."
SPEAKER 5: "Your help."
SPEAKER 2: "He places the envelope on the coffee table."
SPEAKER 3: "And what about Mr. Glotsky?"
SPEAKER 5: "He's helping. He's the go-between."
SPEAKER 3: "Look, there is no go-between. Enough of this. It's getting dark. Food is beginning to spoil."
SPEAKER 5: "Hey, you could use a few candles."
SPEAKER 3: "[INAUDIBLE]"
SPEAKER 2: "He opens the refrigerator door."
SPEAKER 3: "It all looks so lifeless."
SPEAKER 2: "Irv begins emptying the contents of the refrigerator."
SPEAKER 5: "Ooh, that's one hell of an aroma coming out the hallway."
SPEAKER 3: "It's the food."
SPEAKER 5: "It's the garbage."
SPEAKER 3: "I need my [INAUDIBLE] back."
SPEAKER 5: "You ought to do it by yourself. You'd smell it then, one stinking pile of burning garbage."
SPEAKER 2: "Irv opens the cupboard. Several oranges fall out. He hands a candle and matches to Herb."
SPEAKER 3: "Rose went shopping today. She bought oranges and support hose. Your sister had an ordeal today. She didn't make it past the produce section. Something happened. She hears voices."
SPEAKER 5: "Voices?"
SPEAKER 3: "Oranges, support hose."
SPEAKER 2: "Irv plays with the matches and candles."
SPEAKER 5: "She likes oranges."
SPEAKER 3: "Herb, there was a time when I would have stayed behind, just to make sure you weren't planning for my retirement. But Rose has her own plans. She's so eager to leave that I'm beginning to think she'd let you do it. But it probably means dragging you out of here with us."
SPEAKER 5: "You're not eager to leave?"
SPEAKER 3: "I like the city."
SPEAKER 5: "You like the city?"
SPEAKER 3: "I like it."
SPEAKER 5: "What else do you know?"
SPEAKER 3: "What else do I know?"
SPEAKER 5: "What else do I know?"
SPEAKER 3: "What else do I know? So what do I know?"
SPEAKER 2: "Irv strikes a match, contemplates in a moment. Lights the candle."
SPEAKER 3: "So, what do you say. Herb? You'll have a snack?"
SPEAKER 5: "Irv leaves the city. At least it'll be on a full stomach."
SPEAKER 3: "Come on. I got leftovers for tomorrow here. I'm going to roast some carrots, that wonderful noodle pudding that you don't have to go hungry [INAUDIBLE]. You haven't eaten in over an hour. Grab a plum. It's already tomorrow."
SPEAKER 5: "It's late. I think I'm tired. Eat, Irving. Don't let me stop you from eating."
SPEAKER 2: "Herb exits. End of Act 1,"
[APPLAUSE]
"Act 2-- the following morning before dawn. Scene 1-- Irv stands looking out the window, the refrigerator door wide open. The electricity is still off. And the room is lit by candles. Glotsky enters carrying a small satchel and dangles a set of keys for Irv to hear."
SPEAKER 1: "If you're here to turn in your keys, come on in. Leave them on the table."
SPEAKER 2: "Glotsky struggles to move the sofa, but cannot.
SPEAKER 1: It'll be daylight soon. It's been a long night."
SPEAKER 2: "Glotsky sits on the sofa."
SPEAKER 3: "We'll all be out of here in a few hours, done with this for good. Say our goodbyes. Wash our hands with the whole business."
SPEAKER 1: "Did I catch you at a bad time?"
SPEAKER 3: "We're leaving."
SPEAKER 1: "Good idea."
SPEAKER 3: "You see all this? This is what you caught me at."
SPEAKER 1: "You're moving?"
SPEAKER 3: "Yes."
SPEAKER 1: "Into the hallway?"
SPEAKER 3: "Into retirement."
SPEAKER 1: "Too dark in here for you?"
SPEAKER 3: "What's your hurry? I thought you'd be glad I was in a hurry to get out of your way."
SPEAKER 1: "Oh, I am. I'm very glad. But I don't see you running out the door."
SPEAKER 3: "No more house calls. That's finished."
SPEAKER 1: "No more house."
SPEAKER 3: "That's finished, too."
SPEAKER 1: "You should have given yourself a little more time, Mr. Cohn. You've got a lot of boxes."
SPEAKER 3: "It's a test, isn't it? Something you and my insane brother-in-law cooked up to see how I'd do it in a real life situation."
SPEAKER 1: "There a real life situation here for 30 years and you didn't do a god damn thing about it then. Now, the test you want-- well, you failed. In the real life part, you failed."
SPEAKER 3: "Well, fire is a bit too real, don't you think?"
SPEAKER 1: "You see a fire? I don't see any fire. Where are you rushing? You have someplace special to be? A pressing engagement? Sit down, Mr. Cohn. You're in the right place."
SPEAKER 3: "I hope you're all packed, Mr. Glotsky. Don't make yourself too comfortable. We're all getting out of here."
SPEAKER 1: "I live here."
SPEAKER 3: "We all lived here, Mr. Glotsky."
SPEAKER 1: "You know how many years I spent in this apartment?"
SPEAKER 3: "Yeah. Well, we all put in our time. I lived here, too, right here."
SPEAKER 1: "When I was 19, I was running around like I own this place. I bet that was before you were born."
SPEAKER 3: "It's all over, Mr. Glotsky. No more lectures."
SPEAKER 1: "Someone had a problem with the sink? I fixed it. There was a leak or a crack. You called on Mr. Glotsky, and he came running. 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, I was there. That's service. That's what I gave my tenants-- service. That's what they needed, and that's what they got."
SPEAKER 3: "Yeah, yeah."
SPEAKER 1: "What's that, Mr. Cohn?"
SPEAKER 3: "I'll tell you what it is, Mr. Glotsky. It's my story, too. I gave 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, just like you."
SPEAKER 1: "You stole from me, Cohn. You took what wasn't yours."
SPEAKER 3: "I spent the years here, too."
SPEAKER 1: "Me. You took me away. My apartment, my window, my life you packed into little boxes." I'm putting it back the way it was."
SPEAKER 3: "The walls, the wires, the pipes, all of it. It was old when I was young. I got old, and it got older. But I was here. I did my job."
SPEAKER 1: "My job. This was a palace when I was the super. Palace where the tenants were like in a new building, treated with respect. People got on with their lives. This building doesn't remember like I remember."
SPEAKER 3: "You want to put it back together? Put it back."
SPEAKER 1: "I remember this whole block, all the faces-- the people sweeping their hallways and the curbs, picking up, keeping alive. You are too young to remember. Eddie Schulenberg-- gone. Eva Lazarus-- gone. The Isaacsons, the Cossaks, the Sleppians, all gone."
SPEAKER 2: "He struggles to move his cell phone, but cannot."
SPEAKER 3: "Mr. Glotsky, take it easy."
SPEAKER 1: "Buildings go so quick, Mr. Cohn. All at once, like that. One right after the other, up and down like nothing you ever saw. But I saw all of it. And you didn't see a thing. You, Cohn, and Kapalman, that little rich kid. You rushed in here.
And all of a sudden, Glotsky is in the way and out of business. You know what is the fifth floor when you can't climb it. It's prison. You took your time, all right. Plenty. But now, it's my time you're taking. You got some big business here, Cohn. Look at it."
SPEAKER 3: "What do you want me to see?"
SPEAKER 1: "The faces."
SPEAKER 2: "He strikes the match."
SPEAKER 1: "You see what you did here? You turned this building into a shit house."
SPEAKER 2: "Irv lunges for Glotsky, clashes over Glotsky's mouth to silence him. Glotsky offers no resistance at all. Irv decides against doing serious harm and lets Glotsky go."
SPEAKER 3: "All right. It's all right. I lived with the sounds, too. I heard the rattling steam pipes. Every time the front door would slam, I heard it. There was a crack in the wall, or a door that wouldn't close right, someone needed help moving a piece of furniture or hanging a picture. I was there. I was helping. You're not the only one, Mr. Glotsky. I spent my life here, too. And after 30 years, a door stops squeaking or a faucet doesn't trip anymore. You notice it. You hear it not making any noise."
SPEAKER 2: "He goes to the refrigerator."
SPEAKER 3: "You're not loving it, and I'm not loving it. Landlord gets the idea to cash in an insurance policy, And people can freeze with the chance to make some quick money. You and my brother-in-law-- that's all you understand."
SPEAKER 2: "Glotsky examines the envelope that Herb left."
SPEAKER 1: "Afraid I'll be in your way when you and Mr. Kapalman divide up the profits? Well, you wouldn't hear a word from me. How about that for understanding?
SPEAKER 2: "Glotsky brandishes the envelope. Herb goes to snatch it away, then Glotsky pulls it back."
SPEAKER 3: "Not mine."
SPEAKER 1: "Finders keepers."
SPEAKER 3: "I never touched that money."
SPEAKER 1: "You came pretty close."
SPEAKER 2: "Glotsky thumbs through the money."
SPEAKER 1: "I never touched much of this either. Kapalman is about as cheap as they come."
SPEAKER 3: "Kapalman is dead, Mr. Glotsky."
SPEAKER 1: "Tight with a nickel, all right."
SPEAKER 2: "He holds up a large bill."
SPEAKER 1: "Nope, never thought many of these. I'll show him what he can get for his money, offer him a real good deal."
SPEAKER 3: "Died last winter. He was a young man."
SPEAKER 1: "Younger men have died, Cohn. Don't get yourself upset. Walter Kapalman never worked a day in his life and made plenty of money at it, had a business that ran itself, that I ran. I worked hard making that bastard rich. He never did good for anybody but his own pocket."
SPEAKER 3: "The nephew runs things now. He's the crook."
SPEAKER 1: "There was a block with 15 buildings here once. You think I don't know what's the story? That nephew. Who do you think he learned from? You're all crooks."
SPEAKER 3: "You point the finger at me?" I'm the only one who cares what happens in this building."
SPEAKER 1: "Now, when it's too late for it to matter, tell me what was so super about what you did here all those years, Cohn, that you're sitting in the dark and moving into the hallway. Afraid to go down the cellar and admit something died that you couldn't save?"
SPEAKER 3: "Not afraid."
SPEAKER 1: "Of course you are."
SPEAKER 1: [INAUDIBLE] "So go, have a last look before you buy it."
SPEAKER 3: "No one is burying this building. No funerals here, Mr. Glotsky."
SPEAKER 1: "Hard to tell with all these candles."
SPEAKER 3: "I'm not looking for trouble."
SPEAKER 1: "Then maybe you're in the wrong place. You're here with the sites. Give a look to the seller, a real tourist attraction. Plenty down there to keep you busy."
SPEAKER 2: "Irv gets his toolbox."
SPEAKER 3: "What? You want a light in here? I'll give you a light."
SPEAKER 1: "I don't need the light. You need it, Cohn. Go. Have a look at your fuse box and then get the hell out of my building."
SPEAKER 3: "You can have it. Go ahead. Put it back together-- the ripped out phone and the dead walls. Take it. You can keep the money and your cockroaches."
SPEAKER 1: "My what?"
SPEAKER 3: "Your cockroaches."
SPEAKER 1: "Not in here."
SPEAKER 3: "Oh, no?
SPEAKER 1: "Not one, ever."
SPEAKER 3: "Not one. Thousands. Little ones, big ones. Cockroaches. Right in here!"
SPEAKER 2: "Rose enters, dressed in street clothes."
SPEAKER 4: "Oh, Mr. Glotsky, I'm glad you're here. Help yourself to a little cake."
SPEAKER 2: "Glotsky looks for roaches in the cake box."
SPEAKER 4: "It's so early. I didn't think anybody would be up."
SPEAKER 1: "We're up to plenty."
SPEAKER 2: "Rose hands Glotsky a set of keys."
SPEAKER 4: "This key is to the storage closet, but we never lock it. Gloria Schneider brought a cake to the meeting last night. But everyone was dieting, so we had leftover. Wait. I'll get you a napkin. You'll have some tea with it."
SPEAKER 1: "In a glass would be nice."
SPEAKER 2: "Rose puts the kettle on."
SPEAKER 3: "I didn't bother taking down the curtains. This way, you'll have something on the windows. The afternoon sun is very strong in the summer."
SPEAKER 1: "I remember. When you and Mr. Cohn first came here, you fixed up real nice for us. Had a whole room full of sun. That was the widow Liebowitz had it before. Who knows where she ended up? In the ground where we all end up."
SPEAKER 2: "Rose lights more candles."
SPEAKER 3: "You think it's safe?
SPEAKER 1: "It doesn't have to be safe. Faye couldn't have been over 50 when Mr. Liebowitz died. She'd have to be a woman in her 90s today. Always on time with the rent."
SPEAKER 2: "Rose pulls out an orange."
SPEAKER 4: "I heard from my cousin in Florida that they didn't have a good season this year. So instead of sending you bad fruit when I get there, I bought some oranges here. These are from Israel. it's a little special. You'll eat them when you have time. It's good for you."
SPEAKER 1: It's a wonderful thing. From the other side of the world, you get fresh fruit."
SPEAKER 2: "The tea kettle whistles."
SPEAKER 4: "Help yourself to the cake, Mr. Glotsky. It's a simple sponge cake.
SPEAKER 2: "She serves him a nice portion."
SPEAKER 4: "I hear they have fresh fruit all year round in Florida-- half a dozen varieties of everything. Juice oranges, navels, temples, honey belles, Valencia."
SPEAKER 1: "Quite a selection."
SPEAKER 4: "Yeah, you could lose yourself in the produce section."
SPEAKER 1: "From a beach chair, you reach up and pick whatever kind you want."
SPEAKER 2: "Rose hands him an orange."
SPEAKER 1: "Something you don't have to peel would be nice.
SPEAKER 4: " [INAUDIBLE]. They're supposed to peel easier, but who knows?"
SPEAKER 1: "Delicious cake."
SPEAKER 4: "Maybe a little dry."
SPEAKER 1: "Why don't you light up? We could all use a little sun. Right, Mrs. Cohn? Your husband looks tired. A little rest on a beach far away-- you'll feel better."
SPEAKER 3: "We'll all feel better.
SPEAKER 1: "The sooner the better. I chased him down the cellar, like you asked. It's an old building with an old cellar. What you want from it, I don't know. But I did what you wanted. He's down there now, saying goodbye to his fuses."
SPEAKER 3: "And when Mr. Cohn comes up from the cellar, we'll be just like you."
SPEAKER 1: "Like we all want. When they first put your electric, it was just a bunch of wires. From that, you've got plenty of nothing. I read once-- was in Queens-- a lady who did away with the gas man when he came to read the meter. Hit him over the head and dragged him down the cellar. Same was with the milkman. That was in January. In June, the body started to smell, so she burned the place down to cover up the stench. You got bodies in the cellar, Mrs. Cohn?"
SPEAKER 4: "The fuse box is Mr. Cohn's business if you don't mind. You could wait, Mr. Glotsky. It isn't nice to be in such a hurry. My husband needs this time alone to think things through. One last time in the cellar-- he'll see that there's really nothing here to save, and that Herb isn't interested in all this talk about fire. He'll see that it's time to go. And then we'll go. You'll have the apartment and the building to manage. And we'll be in Lakewood on [INAUDIBLE] to Florida."
SPEAKER 1: "Your husband thinks I don't appreciate him not helping me with the stairs all these years."
SPEAKER 4: "You, Mr. Glotsky, don't appreciate my husband. When we came here, it was because this was a nice neighborhood. And we saw our future here."
SPEAKER 1: "It was my future you saw, Mrs. Cohn."
SPEAKER 4: "Oh, you and Irving want the same things, Mr. Glotsky. But you'd rather stand in each other's way."
SPEAKER 1: "Mr. Cohn wants me out of the way. You saw your future here. Now, you see it in Florida. Shall I tell you where I see my future? 30 years ago. That's where."
SPEAKER 2: "She turns her attention to the boxes."
SPEAKER 4: "When I think of it, it's silly to schlep so much with us. We have more than enough of everything. Half of it-- we never use-- towels and pillows, plastic forks, jars, pie tins, parfait glasses, napkin rings, wrapping paper, and miles of string."
SPEAKER 2: "She takes a tablecloth from one of the boxes."
SPEAKER 4: "A tablecloth. It was a gift, beautiful. Like brand new."
SPEAKER 2: "She takes from another box."
SPEAKER 4: "This is the setting for one-- a cup, saucer, and plate-- bone china. I got it for opening an account at the Merchants Bank."
SPEAKER 2: "She takes from another box."
SPEAKER 4: "Most of these are winter things. We won't have much use for them in Florida. We'll accumulate down there, I guess. It's foolish just to hang on to them."
SPEAKER 2: "Rose clears and sets the kitchen table with a new cloth as if making the bed on a perfect Sunday morning."
SPEAKER 4: "You're welcome to them, Mr. Glotsky."
SPEAKER 1: "Thank you."
SPEAKER 2: "Rose brings a pillow. And she puts it in a pillow case and gives to Glotsky."
SPEAKER 1: "It's an unexpected pleasure, Mrs. Cohn."
SPEAKER 2: "Rose dons an apron and begins to clean."
SPEAKER 4: "Irving and I both agree what's best for us probably isn't right for everybody. Actually, we're quite happy about it. When Mr. Cohn became super, it took some adjustment having a husband who was home all day long, busy running up and down and fixing things.
And now, what's left is hardly worth tearing down. He's a little afraid that there's no one left who's going to miss us. So one last time down the cellar to say goodbye to a couple of fuses. He needs it. Even if it is in the dark, it'll be a new day when we leave.
I mean it. A brand new day. We want the free time outdoors where it's warm now, were we can still enjoy it. And being here, Mr. Glotsky, you'll feel better. Back in your old place, it's a comfortable apartment with good ventilation."
SPEAKER 2: "She opens the kitchen window and raps on the frame to loosen it."
SPEAKER 4: "Yeah, this window sticks a little. But in the afternoon, there's always a nice breeze."
SPEAKER 1: "It's something to look forward to."
SPEAKER 4: "Some nice pieces like furniture here. We got a lot of sat in this mahogany great room. It's a little mixed, but it still has a nice finish. There isn't a lot, but it's well built."
SPEAKER 1: "It's quality."
SPEAKER 4: "Even the sofa."
SPEAKER 1: "It was here when I was super."
SPEAKER 4: "You're right. It's practically an heirloom."
SPEAKER 1: "This is furniture. Look at it. More comfortable-- they don't make. If I would calculate the hours I spent napping in this sofa, it would add up to a couple of lifetimes."
SPEAKER 4: "Yeah, being the super is a special kind of job. Now that we're retiring, maybe Irv will get out more."
SPEAKER 1: "You spent a lot of time with your feet in the air. It's not right. You have it facing the wrong way, should be a little more to the window in the sun."
SPEAKER 2: "Glotsky tries to move the sofa, but cannot."
SPEAKER 1: "Here, you see in the floor where it used to be? That's where it belongs."
SPEAKER 2: "He tries to move, it again. Rose comes to aid him. And they move the sofa."
SPEAKER 1: "Here, from 2:00 to 4:30 in the afternoon, except for the eyes, you're right in the sun, a regular vacation."
SPEAKER 4: "You see? You feel better already. Both you and Herb have so much in common. It's silly all the arguing over nothing. He'll come with us to Lakewood for the weekend. But after that, I expect he'll come back here, even if there's really not that much to come back to."
SPEAKER 1: "No."
SPEAKER 4: "Herbert is my responsibility. He's always had his quirks, but they're little things that don't really amount to much. I sound like I'm defending him, I know. But he's my brother, younger than me in a lot of ways. I know I pampered him and protected him too much.
But when our mother died, Herbert was just a kid. I pretty much raised him by myself. Herbert is happy for us, for Irving, especially. A lot of that because my brother wants what's best for me. He's figuring things out. I could see it. He's getting on with his life. I have to encourage him. I'm not saying that Herb is cut out for this kind of life.
There is a lot to know about running a building, that's for sure. And you're about as expert as they come, Mr. Glotsky. But I know that Herb could be a big help to you. Just eventually gets some direction, straightens himself out. It'll be nice for you to have someone around, someone you can have a nice discussion with."
SPEAKER 1: "Discussions-- I can have with myself all day long."
SPEAKER 4: "Oh, say that Mr. Glotsky, but you don't really mean it. Aren't we having a nice discussion right now with the two of us?"
SPEAKER 1: "We're talking, but I'm not so sure we understand each other. You're worried about the people you love, Mrs. Cohn. You're wondering what's going to be with that meshuggeneh brother of yours. You've got a houseful of fruit you don't know what to do with. Maybe you're even a little worried for me. That's my understanding. You want to talk about it? We could talk."
SPEAKER 4: "I'm worried that all this nonsense will lead to trouble, but you'll be here, Mr. Glotsky. Herbert won't stay long. You'll keep an eye on him."
SPEAKER 1: "We already discussed this, Mrs. Cohn. I gave your brother the envelope you prepared, just like you asked. But it's too late even for that. This building will burn with or without your brother. Maybe you could stop him, but you can't stop it. Otherwise, there would be buildings here.
This neighborhood-- it's one old building waiting its turn. It's ready, and I'm ready. You hear voices, Mrs. Cohn. I hear them too, only they're not oranges in a supermarket. They're the voices of people I loved. Out this window, I saw more than just one lifetime go by.
My friend Eddie-- a nicer boy you would never meet. I watched when his building burned, right here from this window. My eyes never left his. He was so helpless from his little room. Where could he run? And so quick, it was over. We all sat around wondering who would be next.
My dear friends, all these years I've kept you alive in here with me. I'm not entirely to blame, Mrs. Cohn. I'm alive such a long time. And the people I love died so young. It's not me responsible for the way life went bad. It's not me to blame. I'm just the last one left to discuss it with. Eddie!"
SPEAKER 5: "Rosie?"
SPEAKER 4: "Oh, my brother is on the way down.
SPEAKER 1: "It's my turn now."
SPEAKER 4: "Mr. Glotsky, Herb is on his way down. He'll come in. I'll excuse myself to the bedroom. I'll leave the two of you alone. You'll talk to him for me. Mr. Glotsky, please."
SPEAKER 5: "Rosie, here you are. Hello, Mr. Glotsky. Is Irv around? Well, he'll be along, I guess. All moved in, Mr. Glotsky? Early bird catches the worm."
SPEAKER 4: "Are you all packed for the weekend?"
SPEAKER 2: "He pulls out a toothbrush."
SPEAKER 5: "All packed."
SPEAKER 4: "That's all you're taking? What about your things, Herb? You're not taking anything? You want a change of clothes? A pair of bathing trunks?"
SPEAKER 5: "I don't own any."
SPEAKER 4: "You can borrow a pair from Irving."
SPEAKER 5: "I don't swim."
SPEAKER 4: "Oh, you'll lie out in the sun and get a little color. You can come back for your things after this weekend."
SPEAKER 5: "All I need-- I got right here."
SPEAKER 2: "He pulls out a deck of cards."
SPEAKER 5: "They're expecting rain on the 4th. That makes three years in a row. I'm along a deck of cards. They may come in handy."
SPEAKER 4: "Irv loves to play cards."
SPEAKER 5: "He never wins. And he's a poor loser."
SPEAKER 4: "if you'd let him win once in a while, he wouldn't take it so hard."
SPEAKER 5: "He'd wonder where all his luck was coming from. Forget it. Everyone has to lose at something. He should be glad it's only cards."
SPEAKER 2: "He flips open the pack of cards."
SPEAKER 5: "Well, even when I let him cheat-- and he does, too. Even when I let him, he can't manage to do it, right, not like you want him to, huh, Mr. Glotsky?"
SPEAKER 2: "He thumbs through the deck and removes the jokers."
SPEAKER 5: "Irv and I usually play poker. It's really a single simple game, but Irv makes it difficult. You see, I deal five cards apiece."
SPEAKER 2: "He deals two hands."
SPEAKER 5: "And like any other game, the object is winning."
SPEAKER 2: "Glotsky goes to pick his cards up and Herb stops him."
SPEAKER 5: "Irv just plays to pass the time and try to have a little fun. That's why he never wins. And that's why he never has any fun. Not at cards, or real estate, or nothing. I mean, what's the point?"
SPEAKER 2: "He gathers up the cards."
SPEAKER 5: "The point is winning, is what's the fun in cards. You have to decide right away from the beginning. So if you're going to cheat, it's when you deal the cards. That's it."
SPEAKER 2: "He begins dealing again,"
SPEAKER 5: "Nothing fancy, just one or two cards off the bottom. Just a friendly little game among friends."
SPEAKER 2: "He finishes the deal."
SPEAKER 5: "But you've got got to know when to leave things alone just the way they are."
SPEAKER 4: "Herbert?"
SPEAKER 2: "He picks up [INAUDIBLE] cards, shows them to Glotsky without looking, and places them back down."
SPEAKER 4: "It's getting late. Irving will be back soon. Why don't you go find us a cab?"
SPEAKER 5: "At this hour of the morning?"
SPEAKER 4: "I'd like to get an early start."
SPEAKER 5: "It's not even daylight. Where is Irving, anyway?"
SPEAKER 4: "Some last minute chores."
SPEAKER 5: "Irv?"
SPEAKER 4: "Herbert, just do as I say."
SPEAKER 5: "The cab can wait."
SPEAKER 4: "It can't wait."
SPEAKER 5: "Rosie, come on. We got plenty of time."
SPEAKER 4: "Do you see all of these here? All of this has to be moved out and loaded into the cab. We have to make sure we didn't forget anything. We don't have plenty of time."
SPEAKER 1: "I prefer solitaire. It's not much fun, but you can cheat all you want."
SPEAKER 5: "How are you at poker, Mr. Glotsky?"
SPEAKER 1: "Never had much use for it."
SPEAKER 5: "Hey, you deal."
SPEAKER 4: "Irving we'll be up from the cellar in a little. Meanwhile, you can help me with these cartons."
SPEAKER 5: "He's down in the cellar?"
SPEAKER 4: "That's what I said."
SPEAKER 1: "Cut the cards."
SPEAKER 5: "How long has he been down there?"
SPEAKER 4: "What's the difference? What is the difference? He'll be up soon. And then we'll leave."
SPEAKER 1: "Let's see. Five cards apiece. 1, 1, 2, 2."
SPEAKER 5: "You let him put down in the cellar?"
SPEAKER 4: "I let him."
SPEAKER 5: "I thought Irv was waiting for Mr. Kapalman."
SPEAKER 4: "That's all been arranged. Mr. Glotsky will be staying on. And he'll handle it."
SPEAKER 1: "4, 4, 5, 5."
SPEAKER 2: "Herb picks up his cards, plays them close to his vest."
SPEAKER 5: "All arranged, huh?"
SPEAKER 4: "This way, we can all relax in Lakewood this weekend. Things will work out. We'll see."
SPEAKER 1: "Cards?"
SPEAKER 4: "You'll have a place to come back to for a little while at least."
SPEAKER 5: "Have a place to come back to? Rose, the whole point was there isn't going to be a place to come back to. Don't you remember? Get away? Have a little something to show for it?"
SPEAKER 4: "Herbert, dear. You told me you were all through with this nonsense. Mr. Glotsky and I had a long talk and decided it would be best for him to watch things around here. After all, he's been here a long time. He has nowhere to go."
SPEAKER 5: "No."
SPEAKER 4: "Herbert?"
SPEAKER 5: "Decided would be best?"
SPEAKER 4: "You know how I feel. Not another word about this. Mr. Glotsky feels the same way I do."
SPEAKER 5: "Well, what about the deal I'm making? You promised. You said I could do it this once. One last time. A fire like we used to do. Only this time, it wouldn't be pretend. Don't you see?"
SPEAKER 4: "Now, listen to me, Herbert. I'm not going to be around to see things to see the things anymore."
SPEAKER 5: "You don't see? How can I show you, Rosie, when your eyes don't seem to see this kind of thing. It's me. I'm different. You see that all right. But I'm the same, too. I'm your brother."
SPEAKER 2: "Rose fusses over Herb."
SPEAKER 5: "We just didn't grow up together is all."
SPEAKER 4: "Herbert, shh."
SPEAKER 5: "I don't blame you for that. You blame me for that, Rosie?"
SPEAKER 4: "No."
SPEAKER 5: "Because it's something we never seem to talk about. Our conversations don't go much further than socks and the 4th of July. I think about it well we used to play together. You used to watch me play. You had to watch and keep an eye on me.
You probably had a lot of better things to do, huh, Rosie? I guess we never really played together. You just watched over, went over with me, whatever I pretended to be or where we were. Sometimes it was really far away, too. Deep in the jungle on some island in the middle of nowhere."
SPEAKER 4: "I was never too far behind, Herbert. It was just that you would always see it better. Far away places and people in the clouds. But you took me there plenty of times."
SPEAKER 5: "All the secret things we used to see in the clouds. We could sit for hours, huh, Rosie? Just listening to the sky. I remember once, we were flying over the Amazon. And I had to bail out my plane because we ran out of gas. We only had one parachute. So we tied ourselves together and we jumped. And I broke a lot of bones."
SPEAKER 4: "That I fixed."
SPEAKER 5: "Yeah, and that you fixed. And we ran out of food and water. And the zombie found us,"
SPEAKER 4: "And they chased us and did we run."
SPEAKER 5: "Yeah. There was this one young zombie who was really nice to us. He spoke English. And he tells us what to say in zombelese to fly with the older zombies. But I can't remember this stuff."
SPEAKER 4: "He whispered in your ear."
SPEAKER 5: "Yeah, yeah, yeah."
SPEAKER 4: "Can you hear him?"
SPEAKER 5: "Just a whisper."
SPEAKER 4: "Tell him."
SPEAKER 5: "Hoo. Oh, the way your hair glows in the light."
SPEAKER 4: "Oh, just a whisper. We sure got around, huh? Herbert, it's late. We have to be going. Aunt Esther will wonder where we are. She's planned a big weekend."
SPEAKER 5: "Aunt Esther?"
SPEAKER 4: "She'll wonder what's keeping us."
SPEAKER 5: "The weekend?"
SPEAKER 4: "In Lakewood the 4th of July."
SPEAKER 5: "But this weekend?
SPEAKER 4: "You know how much this means to her. We'll play some more later, dear. We'll take a boat out on the lake and row somewhere far away."
SPEAKER 5: "But now?"
SPEAKER 4: "But now, we have to get all this stuff."
SPEAKER 5: "But, Rosie?"
SPEAKER 4: "Herbert."
SPEAKER 5: "But you promised."
SPEAKER 4: "You promised to help me."
SPEAKER 5: "I want to help."
SPEAKER 4: "Well, then, you can start by helping me move some of these cartons out into the hall. Put them by the for now. And I'll go see about those bathing trunks I promised."
SPEAKER 1: "Looks like I dealt myself some winning hands here. Never feel much like playing cards, though, not even when it rains. It's a friendly game, but all my friends are dead. Have an orange, young man. You'll feel better. and so will your sister."
SPEAKER 5: "She wants you to talk to me."
SPEAKER 1: "She wants you to listen to her. You're crazy enough, all right. But you're also a weakling. And that doesn't do either of us much good. You're a big boy, Herbert, but you're going to need a little more cash and a lot more common sense."
SPEAKER 2: "Glotsky takes out the envelope of money."
SPEAKER 1: You left this behind. I don't know how much there is in here. Enough, I think, for you to see my point."
SPEAKER 2: "He offers the envelope to Herb."
SPEAKER 1: "Do what you have to do and bring me the change. Then get the hell out of here. And remember one thing. It's my fire. I'm just letting you help. Here, get what you need and call a cab for your sister."
SPEAKER 2: "Herb grabs the money and runs out. The light bulb suspended from the ceiling lights up. Rose and Irv enter."
SPEAKER 1: I sent your brother out to pick up a few things for the apartment, then to send a cab by, for you and Mr. Cohn. You may need a fleet of cabs, judging from all these boxes. He said to tell you that he'll meet you at the bus station in a little while. Never thought I'd see light from that bulb again. Nice. Very nice."
SPEAKER 3: "Is that what you thought, Mr. Glotsky? That Irv Cohn doesn't know his fuses?"
SPEAKER 4: "Oh, Irving, please."
SPEAKER 3: "And he can't find his way through a handful of wires? I didn't see you running down through the cellar to fix it."
SPEAKER 1: "Me? You won't see running anywhere."
SPEAKER 3: "Back to your own apartment, for example?"
SPEAKER 1: "I am back. Now, you can retire with a clear conscience. You fixed a few wires and turned on a few lights. A real hero. The landlord is paying for a fire. And you're giving him smoke damage."
SPEAKER 3: "We're all going now, Mr. Glotsky."
SPEAKER 1: "Where? Where are we going, Mr. Cohn? You'll excuse me if I'm not up for a trip."
[HONKING]
SPEAKER 4: "In a minute. It's the cab Herb sent. Mr. Glotsky, there's plenty of food in the refrigerator. And I've laid out a few things in the bedroom. Now, take care of yourself, Mr. Glotsky."
SPEAKER 1: "Not to worry, Mrs. Cohn."
SPEAKER 2: "Rose places a kiss upon Glotsky, grabs a few things, and leaves."
SPEAKER 3: "I want you to know that dragging you out of here isn't going to be fun,"
SPEAKER 1: "Back up stairs? Or you're dragging me out to the curb?"
SPEAKER 3: "I'd like to.
SPEAKER 1: "You'll excuse me if I don't see you to the door."
SPEAKER 3: "Get up."
SPEAKER 2: "Glotsky extends his arm for Irv to drag."
SPEAKER 3: "I have a good mind to wait right here, until my insane brother-in-law shows up."
SPEAKER 1: "He's meeting you at the bus."
SPEAKER 3: "Picking up a few things for the apartment? I thought it was--"
SPEAKER 1: "That, too."
SPEAKER 3: "You think I'm going to turn my back and run?"
SPEAKER 1: "Doesn't matter what I think. You're retiring. If you've got some place to run to, run. Go. We could all use a little rest."
SPEAKER 3: "Well, what do I do with you, Mr. Glotsky? Pack you in a box and take you to Florida with us?"
SPEAKER 1: "I'll get a box when I'm dead. I already have a place picked out. I remember you, Cohn. Young guy coming here with that pretty wife of yours. I had apartment 4B fresh painted. Two coats I gave it. One for each of you. Had it fixed up real nice. Good neighbors on the fourth floor, too. The shoemaker and his family in 4D. And in 4C, there was the opera singer, Enrico Bernstein. Sang up a storm."
SPEAKER 3: "Enrico."
SPEAKER 1: "Clean hallways, nice flooring, plenty of sun in the afternoon.
SPEAKER 3: "[INAUDIBLE]"
SPEAKER 1: "You know what I miss most about being the super in this building? Don't misunderstand me. Here in this sofa, you're in the lap of luxury. But what I miss more than anything is sweeping the front sidewalk. That. From the first hint of spring, right through the end of fall, even the gutters I would sweep."
Everyone swept in front of their buildings and not just in the morning. Throughout the day. And in the summers, it was the last thing you did. You swept. It wasn't even about how clean you got it. It was a whole thing. That's what I miss. When you took over as super, I would watch from my upstairs window. I watched you, Mr. Cohn. You liked it, too."
SPEAKER 3: "The snow-- not so much."
SPEAKER 1: "Not so much the snow. But you had that same look come over you, the same feeling I used to have, leaning on your broom, schmoozing with the tenants and the neighbors. You were in your element, am I right?"
SPEAKER 3: "In my element? I suppose."
SPEAKER 1: "Just memories,"
[HONKING]
I owe you an apology, Mr. Cohn, the way I spoke to you earlier. The light bulb, the cellar. You were good tenants. And you were a good super."
SPEAKER 3: "Maybe."
SPEAKER 1: "Not maybe. This I know for a fact. Do you want to know how I know this?"
SPEAKER 3: "I get the feeling you're going to tell me, whether I want you to or not."
SPEAKER 1: "I know this. Because in all the time you lived here, you never changed the locks on this apartment."
[HONKING]
SPEAKER 2: "Irv reaches into his pocket for a set of keys."
SPEAKER 3: Here. The apartment's yours. Thanks for the loan."
SPEAKER 1: "Keep your keys. I still have my set, which is feet up on the coffee table. Oh, the lap of luxury. So, Cohn, you're retiring then?"
SPEAKER 3: "Yeah."
SPEAKER 1: "With a little practice, you'll get used to it. Take a couple oranges with you. They're good for you."
SPEAKER 3: "Jaffas. They peel easier."
SPEAKER 1: "So I've heard."
SPEAKER 3: "See how I fixed this light?"
SPEAKER 1: "You did good."
SPEAKER 3: "Good enough."
SPEAKER 1: "You can turn the bulb off if you don't mind. I prefer the natural light. Safe travels to you and Mrs. Cohn. Here's to warmer times."
SPEAKER 2: "Irv exits. Glotsky takes a match from the matchbook on the coffee table. He strikes the match and admires the flame. Then he blows it out. The lights go out. End of play."
A staged-reading of Fred Peretz Cohn’s play “Enough to Go”
