Title : Nazareth: a morality in one act
Author : Laurence Housman
Release date : December 26, 2022 [eBook #69644]
Language : English
Original publication : United States: Samuel French, Ltd
Credits : Charlene Taylor, Carla Foust and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
Samuel French: Publisher
28-30 West Thirty-eighth Street: New York
LONDON
Samuel French, Ltd.
26 Southampton Street, Strand
Copyright, 1916
By LAURENCE HOUSMAN
CAUTION.—Amateurs and Professionals are hereby warned that “NAZARETH,” being fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States, is subject to royalty, and any one presenting the play without the consent of the author or his authorized agent, will be liable to the penalties by law provided. Application for the right to produce “NAZARETH” must be made to Samuel French, 28-30 West 38th Street, New York City.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
[Pg 3]
[Pg 5]
NAZARETH
Scene :— The Carpenter’s shop is a low, broad chamber built of wood. At the back to the left-center a wide open doorway reveals a level stretch of landscape. It is late afternoon, but the air is still pale with the heat of day. To the right of the door is a small square window with wooden shutters thrown wide; before it stands a carpenter’s bench upon which lies a wooden door frame nearly finished. The carpenter and his assistant are quietly at work planing, and boring holes for the fitting in of the rivets; beneath them the floor is strewn with shavings, saw-dust, and odds and ends of wood. Away to the left, near a spinning wheel, sits an aged woman combing flax. Against the wall to the same side of the doorway sits Mary , the carpenter’s wife, with a book upon her knees; on the other side her son stands against the door-post, with his back to the interior, looking out into the sunshine.
After the scene has opened the carpenter raises himself from a stooping position, and hands over to Reuben , his assistant, a beam of wood, which the latter lays aside.
Carpenter. ’Twill soon be done. Nay, we’ll not need that now. Yes, speak on. If you read slowly enough, I can give heed.
Mary. ( Reading ). “Because his visage was so marred, many did marvel at him then, for more [Pg 6] than most his form was scarred, yea, more than all the sons of men. Yet him shall all the nations hear, and kings shall shut their mouths for fear.”
Carpenter. ( To Reuben ) Be careful, now the cross-beam’s laid.
Old Anna. What cause have kings to be afraid?
Mary. ( Reading ) “Who hath believed our report? To whom is the Lord’s arm revealed? He shall grow up in tender sort, and as a root from a dry field, having no form nor comeliness, that men who see should scorn him less.”
Carpenter. Hold it fast, now! Nay, don’t let go.
Mary. —
( Old Anna touches her daughter, and points toward the child .)
Mary. ( After a pause, watching him )
Child. —
[Pg 7]
Anna. I see no sheep.
Mary. —
Child. —
Anna. He never was a child for play.
Child. Mother, what were you reading then?
Mary. —
Child. Was it a dream?
Or did he see? How did he know?
Mary. He heard God’s word, and told men so.
Child. And was that many years ago?
Mary. Seven hundred years.
Child. —
Anna. Aye! many fear it. I for one.
Carpenter. There, that’s right! Now, ’tis almost done.
( The child turns towards the carpenter’s bench. )
Mary. Thou will not miss that sight, my son.
Carpenter. —
[Pg 8]
Child. What art thou making, father?
Carpenter. —
( Reuben goes and takes a cup, dips it in a bowl of water near the door and drinks .)
Child. Whose door?
Carpenter.
Child. How came it thine?
Carpenter. I made it.
Child. How?
Carpenter. —
Child. ( After a pause ) Who made the tree?
Carpenter. ( After a pause ) God made the tree, my son.
Child. —
( He caresses the wood, laying his face upon it )
Carpenter. Strange fancies still!
Child. —
Carpenter. —
Reuben. ( As he brings the nails and drives them in. Sings )
( The child has taken the bag of nails from Reuben , and hands them to him, one by one, as he drives them in. One of the nails pierces the child’s palm. He bows his head over it. )
Carpenter. —
( Mary comes forward and kneels by the child’s side. She takes his hand and tries to staunch the blood )
[Pg 10]
Mary. —
( Anna brings the water bowl, while Reuben draws forward a low bench at one end of which she sets it down )
( Mary bathes his hand and binds it. The child closes his eyes and sinks against her breast. )
Anna. —
Mary. —
Carpenter. Strange words!
Mary. —
( She moves to lay him along the bench. Anna spreads a cloak across it )
[Pg 11]
Carpenter. —
( He lays his hand kindly upon his wife, then turns away. Evening has begun to close in )
Mary. Look! There are stains already there!
Carpenter. I’ll wash them off!
Mary. —
( The two men have lifted the door and set it to stand against the middle post of the doorway where it makes the form of three crosses standing together. )
Carpenter. —
Mary. —
( The men having put away their tools lift the door and carry it away. )
Anna. ( Reading ) “He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of my people was he smitten. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.”
( Voices of water-carriers heard without. )
1st Antiphon. The bows of the mighty men are broken.
2nd Antiphon. And they that stumbled are girded with strength.
1st Antiphon. They that were full have hired themselves for bread.
2nd Antiphon. And they that were hungry have ceased.
( The women pass by. )
1st Antiphon. So that the barren hath born seven.
2nd Antiphon. And she that hath many children is waxed feeble.
1st Antiphon. —
2nd Antiphon. The Lord maketh poor and maketh rich. He bringeth low and lifteth up.
Mary. It is the women going to the well.
[Pg 13]
Anna. What are they singing?
Mary. —
Anna. And thy joy also!
Mary. And the pain as well!
1st Antiphon. He raiseth the poor out of the dust.
2nd Antiphon. And lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill.
1st Antiphon. To set them among the princes.
2nd Antiphon. And to make them inherit the throne of glory.
1st Antiphon. He will keep the feet of his saints.
2nd Antiphon. And the wicked shall be silent in darkness.
1st Antiphon. For by strength shall no man prevail.
2nd Antiphon. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken in pieces.
( The voices pass away. It begins to grow dark. )
Anna. ( Sings as she winds her flax )
( She lays the cloth over the child )
Mary. —
[Pg 14]
( A pause. Anna lights a small lamp. As she goes to place it in the window she stops. Its light falls on the sleeping child )
Mary. —
( A sound of sheep passing is heard. A shepherd stops at the door, and looks in. He draws off his hat. )
Shepherd. God’s peace be in this house. ( He goes on his way )
Anna. Again!
Mary. Who spoke?
Anna. —
Mary. —
( A stranger passes the door. )
Stranger. Peace be with you!
Mary. God give you peace. ( She rises and turns )
Anna. Nay, he is gone.
Mary. —
( Enter an old man. )
Old Man. —
( Enter a little child, led by its mother. The little one kneels beside the bench where the other child is laid. )
Little Child. —
( The mother lifts the little one from its knees and carries it away. )
Old Man. ( Weeping, he stands in the child’s place )
( He kneels. While he speaks others have entered. The scene has grown dark. One of the men carries a lantern )
1st Man. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever.
2nd Man. Son of God, shine on us!
( All kneel. )
3rd Man. Lamb of God, look on us!
4th Man. Shepherd of men, set thy sign on us!
5th Man. And lay thy yoke on us!
1st Man. And we will be thankful.
( The moon rises. Outside the door, others are seen kneeling: men, women and children. )
All. Hail, Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with thee! Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb: Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.
( One by one the men rise and go out. The crowd outside also disappears. Anna goes and closes the doors, and the shutter of the window. The house is flooded with moonlight. Mary kneels at the head of the sleeping child. Voices are heard singing. )
[Pg 17]
Voices. —
CURTAIN.
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THE BENEFICENT BEAR , a comedy in three acts, by Goldoni . One of the best-known comedies of the Father of Italian Comedy. A costume piece laid in 18th century France, the principal character in which is a good-hearted, though gruff, old uncle. 4 men, 3 women. Price 25 Cents .
GRAMMAR (La Grammaire), a farce in one act by Labiche . An amusing and charming comedy by one of the greatest of 19th century French dramatists. 4 men, 1 woman. Price 25 Cents .
THE TWO COWARDS (Les Deux Timides), a comedy in one act by Labiche . A very amusing and human little comedy, in which a strong-willed girl helps her father choose for her the man she wishes to marry. 2 women, 3 men. Price 25 Cents .
THE DOCTOR IN SPITE OF HIMSELF , by Moliere . A famous farce by the greatest of French dramatists. Sganarelle has to be beaten before he will acknowledge that he is a doctor, which he is not. He then works apparently miraculous cures. The play is a sharp satire on the medical profession in the 17th Century. Price 25 Cents .
BRIGNOL AND HIS DAUGHTER , by Capus . The first comedy in English of the most sprightly and satirical of present-day French dramatists. Price 50 Cents .
CHOOSING A CAREER , by G. A. de Caillavet . Written by one of the authors of “Love Watches.” A farce of mistaken identity, full of humorous situations and bright lines. Price 25 Cents .
FRENCH WITHOUT A MASTER , by Tristan Bernard . A clever farce by one of the most successful of French dramatists. It is concerned with the difficulties of a bogus-interpreter who does not know a word of French. Price 25 Cents .
PATER NOSTER , a poetic play in one act, by Francois Coppee . A pathetic incident of the time of the Paris Commune, in 1871. Price 25 Cents .
THE ROMANCERS , a comedy in three acts, by Edmond Rostand . New translation of this celebrated and charming little romantic play by the famous author of “Cyrano de Bergerac” and “Chantecler.” Price 25 Cents .
THE MERCHANT GENTLEMAN , (Le Bourgeois Gentil-homme), by Moliere . New translation of one of Moliere’s comic masterpieces, a play which is peculiarly well adapted to amateur production. Price 50 Cents .
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. All other inconsistencies are as in the original.