Nora's Lost (1st ed. - 07.21.

05) - noraslost8j
Copyright 2005 Alan Haehnel

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Cast of Characters
YOUNG MARTHA
GENE
MARK
YOUNG NORA
NORA
JACK
CHAPLAIN
BILL
ARMY OFFICER
MARTHA
ROBIN
NURSE
LILAC
DARCY
NANCY
PREACHER
DEATH
POLICE OFFICER
SAUNDRA
KAREN
MARY
CAROLERS
SHADOWS
SEARCHERS
VOICES

4
Production Note
Most of this play depicts the memories of a woman with de-
mentia. In order to achieve the haunting quality the piece re-
quires, the original production featured movable platforms
and disks upon which many of the characters entered and ex-
ited. These small wagons were moved about by several shad-
owscharacters dressed all in black, including their faces.
These shadows may also double as voices. Also, the characters
in Noras mind need not change costumes though they change
ages and situations. Finally, a note about pacing: the length of
the play might indicate that the show would run an hour or
more. However, the original production ran under forty min-
utes, as it should. The lines of the voices should often overlap
to create an echoing effect; the ends and beginnings of other
scenes should also overlap to aid the effect of fleeting memo-
ries.

5
Acknowledgments
The premiere of Noras Lost was presented by Hartford High School
of Hartford, Vermont, under the direction of the author in Febru-
ary, 2005. It featured the following cast members:
NORA ................................................ Jade Christie-Maples
GENE .................................................................Ryan Frazer
YOUNG MARTHA........................................ Ashley Pettit
MARK ................................................................... Jon Abetti
YOUNG NORA ............................................Allison Brown
JACK ................................................................... Rigel Cable
MARTHA .............................................. Chelsea Densmore
ROBIN......................................................... Kaitlin Haehnel
NURSE..........................................................Angie Messina
NANCY .................................................... Amy Williamson
LILAC ................................................................Jessie Stuart
DARCY ............................................................. Emily Smith
SAUNDRA ...................................................... Sarah Pickett
REVEREND...............................................Alex Kindzerske
DEATH ......................................................... Wendy Tucker
DOCTOR / POLICE OFFICER ................. Brandon Shaw
ARMY OFFICER ............................................ Nick Leggett
BILL..................................................................Jordan Wood
CAROLERS .....................Hailley Therriault, Sarah Laros,
Annie Sawyer, Angela Christie,
Michelle Panniello
SHADOWS.......................Lara Quillia, Jenifer Dickinson,
Robin Tucker, Emily Finnegan,
Gabriele Aube
VOICES.................................Cass Johndrow, Liz Lofgren,
Sarah Laros, Alex Kindzerske,
Brandon Shaw, Sarah Pickett,
Jordan Wood, Annie Sawyer,
Angela Christie, Michelle Panniello,
Lara Quillia, Jenifer Dickinson,
Robin Tucker, Emily Finnegan,
Gabriele Aube

6
 NORAS LOST
By Alan Haehnel

(Lights up to NORA, 75, asleep in a chair. She wears a thin dress

and slippers. We hear GENE, her husband, calling for her.)
GENE. (Off:) Nora.
(GENE enters. Unlike NORA, he is young because he is the hus-
band she remembers.)
GENE. Nora, wake up.
(NORA wakes groggily. Her speech and bearing indicate that she is
severely disoriented. GENE converses with her as if her mumbled
speech makes sense to him.)
NORA. What? What is it?
GENE. Nora, Martha is gone.
NORA. Gone? Where?
GENE. We dont know. She must have been sleep-walking orwe
dont know. Shes not in her tent. We have to go find her. Put on
your coat and hat, Nora.
(He helps her put these on.)
GENE. Its cold tonight. Come on.
NORA. Where is she?
GENE. (Exiting:) Come on, Nora. Weve got to go find her. Its get-
ting dark.
NORA. (Following GENE:) Its cold. Shes scared.
GENE. (Off:) Thats why we have to hurry. Come on.
(NORA exits, shuffling. The lights go down on her and up on
ROBIN, flipping idly through t.v. channels as she lounges on a
couch. The television is not visible; she watches it on the fourth
wall. MARTHA enters behind her, dressed to go out in cold
weather.)

7
8 Alan Haehnel

MARTHA. Robin, did you borrow my gloves?

ROBIN. No.
MARTHA. Have you seen them? The red ones?
ROBIN. I dont know where they are. Take mine.
MARTHA. Yours are too slippery for driving.
ROBIN. Whatever. Wherere you going?
MARTHA. Ive got a couple errands, then I thought Id stop over
and see Nora.
ROBIN. Okay.
MARTHA. You want to come?
ROBIN. Ill pass.
MARTHA. She is your grandmother, you know.
ROBIN. I know.
MARTHA. She might appreciate a visit now and then.
ROBIN. I want to watch this show.
MARTHA. What show? Youre just switching channels. Come on;
come with me. Lets go see Nora.
ROBIN. Momwhy?
MARTHA. Because Im your mother and shes my mother and you
should get to know her.
ROBIN. Get to know her? Mom, she doesnt recognize meor you.
She can hardly even talk.
MARTHA. Hm. I wish I could say youre wrong. All right. Ill see
you in a couple hours.
ROBIN. Bye.
(MARTHA doesnt leave, just stares blankly at the television for a
moment, not seeing it.)
MARTHA. Shes a person, you know.
 Noras Lost 9

ROBIN. Who?
MARTHA. Nora. She married your grandfather, she taught high
school, sheshe made Halloween costumes for us kids. I remember
this one time she and Dad took us camping. They thought I was
lost, but
ROBIN. Mom, whats the matter?
MARTHA. Youve only ever known her as this babbling, embar-
rassing old lady who takes her dress off in public if you dont watch
her. She wasnt always like that, Robin.
ROBIN. Do you need me to go with you?
MARTHA. Never mind.
ROBIN. I can.
MARTHA. Its fine. Im justfeeling guilty, I guess. Im all right.
ROBIN. You can tell her I said hi.
MARTHA. Okay.
(MARTHA exits; the couch goes off. A cold light illuminates the
main stage area, set with bare trees and fog. We hear whispering and
see NORA wondering amongst the trees. Slowly, we begin to hear
distinct VOICES rise from the fog. All of the voices and characters
are from NORAs memory.)
VOICE 1. Shes gone, Nora.
VOICE 2. Were sorry.
VOICE 3. The turbid ebb and flow of human misery.
VOICE 4. Say your prayers.
VOICE 5. Ma, I have to go.
VOICE 6. Nora, I dont feel so good.
VOICE 7, 8, 9. Mama, come find me!
NORA. Im coming.
(The cry of a baby.)
10 Alan Haehnel

VOICE 10. Im scared, Mom.

VOICE 11. Do not weep, maiden.
(A sudden gunshot. MARK and JACK go running through the
woods, playing guns.)
MARK. I got you! I got you!
JACK. No, you didnt!
NORA. Mark.
(MARK makes a sound like a machine gun as the boys exit. NORA
tries to yell to them, but they are gone. YOUNG MARTHA calls
from an area on the other side of the stage.)
YOUNG MARTHA. Mama, come find me! Come and find me!
NORA. Martha.
(NORA tries to move toward YOUNG MARTHA, but she fades
away before NORA can reach her.)
VOICE 12. The sea is calm tonight.
VOICE 13. Listen!
VOICE 14. Down the vast edges drear.
BILL. They hung him in a tree.
VOICE 15, 1, 6. Our father which art in heaven.
NORA. Our father which art
(YOUNG NORA and GENE appear center stage. NORA watches
and listens. Throughout the play, NORA follows her memories as
they occur around her. At times, she looks directly at them; at other
times, she stares ahead, as if seeing them in her minds eye.)
YOUNG NORA. I love the ocean, the smell of it, the sound of it, the
mystery of it.
GENE. Its something, all right.
YOUNG NORA. The sea is calm tonight. / The tide is full, the
moon lies fair / Upon the straights; on the French coast the light /
gleams and is gone
 Noras Lost 11

NORA. Is gone.
GENE. Uh, Nora? What are you looking at? I hate to tell you this,
Hon, but its not night, and thats not France.
YOUNG NORA. Its from a poem. Dover Beach, by Matthew Ar-
nold. Im memorizing it.
GENE. That for one of your classes? I could never do that.
YOUNG NORA. We studied it in class. Im memorizing it because I
love it.
GENE. My college gal. How can you stand to be around a dummy
like me?
(GENE and YOUNG NORA fade away.)
VOICE 2. All soulsall living bodies.
VOICE 9. I dream horrible dreams.
VOICE 12. We have to let them in, Nora.
VOICE 10. We slowly drove, he knew no haste.
DOCTOR. (Floating on for the line, then off again:) Mrs. Blodgett, Im
very sorry.
(A group of CAROLERS, carrying lanterns, appears.)
CAROLERS. O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant
(They exit, the sound fading. We hear knocking. A door crosses up-
stage. NORA recoils from it.)
YOUNG MARTHA. Mama, somebodys at the door.
(Knocking again.)
YOUNG MARTHA. Mama!
BILLS VOICE. We found him in a tree.
MARKS VOICE. Come see my tree house, Mom! Come see!
YOUNG MARTHAS VOICE. Mama, I want to be a ballerina cat!
12 Alan Haehnel

(A middle-aged WOMAN enters, dressed as if going to church in

the 1930s. She touches NORA on the shoulder. This is DEATH.)
DEATH. Nora, we should be going soon.
(NORA moves away from DEATH. DEATH fades.)
YOUNG MARTHA. (Entering:) Mamma, I dont like the tail.
NORA. Its all right.
YOUNG MARTHA. It doesnt look like a panther tail. Thats the
kind of tail I want.
NORA. Its a good tail.
YOUNG MARTHA. It has to be round! This one is flat! Its too flat,
Mamma! I want a round tail! Cant you make me a round one,
Mamma?
NORA. Ill try. Ill try.
YOUNG MARTHA. Cant you? Mamma?
(YOUNG MARTHA fades away, as does her voice.)
MARK. Well find her, Mama. Ill help!
CAROLERS. (Offstage:) Silent night, Holy night
VOICE 16. (Overlapping Silent Night:) Its when your mother and
your father and all your friends never get to see you or talk to you
or hold you.
DARCY. (Entering, reciting poetry:) Because I could not stop for
Death / He kindly stopped for me; / The carriage held but just our-
selves and Immortality. / We slowly drove Mrs. Blodgett, I cant
remember this!
(GENE comes forward and holds NORAs hand.)
GENE. Ill build us a cottage right next to the ocean, Nora.
NORA. Gene.
GENE. Im not so smart with my mind; I cant recite any poetry;
half the time I cant even come up with normal words, never mind
all of those flowery ones you use.
 Noras Lost 13

NORA. Its all right.

GENE. I can use my hands, though.
VOICE 17. Nora, I dont feel so good.
VOICE 15. Dont feel so good.
VOICE 2. Feel so good.
GENE. Im good that way. I could build a cottage. (Kneeling.) Damn
it, Nora, its crazy and all, butI love you. And if youll have me, if
you think you could be happy enough with me
NORA. Yes.
GENE. What? You mean, you mean you will?
NORA. I love you, too.
GENE. Wahoo! Did you hear that, everybody? (To the fourth wall:)
Did you hear that, you out there in the sailboat? This woman is go-
ing to be my wife! Listen, ocean, meet Nora Blodgett!
(GENE freezes, then falls back. The SHADOWS take him away.)
VOICE 11. Were sorry, Mrs. Blodgett.
VOICE 5. Im sorry, Nora.
YOUNG MARTHA. Mamma, I didnt mean to!
VOICE 6. Im sorry.
VOICE 3. Were sorry, Nora.
VOICE 7. Sorry.
VOICE 8. Sorry.
VOICE 9. Sorry.
VOICE 1. Sorry.
(YOUNG NORA and MARK appear. YOUNG NORA panto-
mimes folding laundry.)
MARK. Ma.
14 Alan Haehnel

YOUNG NORA. I dont know why you cant wear a pair of pants
more than once, Mark. What do you do in them? They look per-
fectly clean to me.
MARK. Ma.
YOUNG NORA. I should have you do your own laundry; youre
certainly old enough. Then maybe you wouldnt toss everything
you wear for three seconds in to the hamper.
MARK. Ma!
YOUNG NORA. What, Mark?
MARK. I got the letter.
YOUNG NORA. What leNo.
(YOUNG NORA fades away.)
VOICE 17. No!
VOICE 16. No.
VOICE 15. No.
VOICE 14. No.
MARK. Ive been drafted.
(MARK fades away.)
MARY, KAREN, SAUNDRA. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the republic for which it stands,
one nation,
(KAREN stops reciting at this point; the other two continue:)
under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
(MARY, KAREN, SAUNDRA exit.)
VOICE 13. Say your prayers.
VOICE 12. This vast similitude.
YOUNG MARTHA. (Entering on her knees, praying:) And bless
Mama and Daddy and the kitty and please bless that it snows
pretty soon. (Looking up, as if listening to someone.) I dont want to
 Noras Lost 15

bless Mark. He wont let me in his tree house. All right. Bless Mark.
(Conspiratorial:) But please dont bless his dumb tree house.
VOICE 11. As on a darkling plain.
CAROLERS. Gloria
VOICE 10, 9, 8. I dream
VOICE 8. Horrible
VOICE 7. Horrible dreams.
(YOUNG NORA, GENE and MARK enter.)
YOUNG NORA. Youre going to Canada.
GENE. Nora
YOUNG NORA. Gene, we have to bring Mark to Canada. Well
leave first thing in the morning.
MARK. Dad, you have to tell her.
GENE. Nora
YOUNG NORA. Were not that far away from the border. Do you
know where we left his papers? I think thats all well need. Do you
have yours, Gene?
MARK. Ma!
GENE. Nora, stop this, now! Stop for a minute!
YOUNG NORA. Ill take him up there myself if you cant find your
papers.
MARK. Ma! Im going!
YOUNG NORA. I know youre going. Of course youre going.
GENE. Not to Canada.
YOUNG NORA. Yes, he is.
MARK. Ive been drafted, Ma. Its my duty to go.
(The door comes in. We hear knocking behind it.)
16 Alan Haehnel

YOUNG NORA. Youre just a boy. You dont know what youre
saying.
MARK. Im 18 years old
YOUNG NORA. I am your mother and Im telling you that you are
not going to Viet Nam! Youre going to Canada!
NORA. (Overlapping YOUNG NORAs last line:) Youre going to
Canada!
(Knocking again. YOUNG MARTHA yells from offstage.)
YOUNG MARTHA. Is somebody going to get that?
GENE. Nora, listen, this is his choice.
YOUNG NORA. You stay away from me.
MARK. Im no better than the others who have gone, Ma. I feel like
I need to.
YOUNG NORA. Youre not going. You cant.
(MARK exits. YOUNG NORA and GENE freeze.)
VOICE 6. You cant!
VOICE 5. You cant.
VOICE 4. No!
VOICE 3, 2, 1. Dont answer that.
(The door recedes as does the knocking behind it. LILAC, an angry
student, appears.)
LILAC. For my poetry thing, Im going to recite this cheerful little
poem I found by Stephen Crane. I think its a great poem for our
times because, you know, the war in Vietnam is definitely a right-
eous action, so we need to celebrate war. Here goes: Do not weep,
maiden, for war is kind. / Because your lover threw wild hands
toward the sky and the affrighted steed ran on alone, / Do not
weep. / War is kind.
CAROLERS. Angels we have heard on high.
VOICE 4. Its got angels and clouds and stars.
 Noras Lost 17

VOICE 17. Im scared, Mom.

YOUNG MARTHA. (Entering:) Ive been reading Marks letters. In
one, he mentioned Dover Beach. Its my mothers favorite poem.
Im going to recite it today. For Mark.
(YOUNG MARTHA exits. GENE and YOUNG NORA unfreeze.
A SHADOW wheels a chair in for GENE. He sits on it.)
GENE. Nora, Im not feeling too good.
YOUNG NORA. Whats the matter?
NORA. (Overlapping YOUNG NORA:) Whats the matter?
VOICE 8. Now I lay me down to sleep.
GENE. (Rubbing his left arm and shoulder:) I dont know. Just achy.
VOICE 8. I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
GENE. Stomachs a little off.
YOUNG NORA. You look pale.
VOICE 8. If I should die before I wake.
GENE. Im going to go lie down.
YOUNG NORA. Marthas coming with the baby later.
GENE. What about Jim?
YOUNG NORA. Theyre having troubles again.
GENE. Im going to lie down. Wake me up when Martha comes.
(GENE fades off.)
VOICE 8. I pray the Lord my soul to
(YOUNG NORA exits.)
VOICE 9. The sea is calm tonight.
VOICE 10. Hes going to Canada.
(Baby crying, fades into singing.)
CAROLERS. Oh, say can you see, by the dawns
18 Alan Haehnel

(Gunshot. Scream. LILAC appears.)

LILAC. Do not weep, babe, for war is kind. / Because your father
tumbled in the yellow trenches, / Raged at his breast, gulped and
died, /Do not weep. / War is kind.
(GENE runs in, pushing YOUNG MARTHA and MARK in a sled
across the stage. The children cheer, urging him to go faster.)
GENE. Come on, Nora! Come on out!
NANCY. (Entering, reciting:) For my poetry presentation, I found
this selection by Walt Whitman. A vast similitude interlocks all, /
All spheres, grown, ungrown, small, large, suns, moons, planets,
comets, asteroids, / All the substances the same, and all that is
spiritual upon the same, / All distances of space, however wide, /
All distances of timeall inanimate forms
(NANCY fades. The PREACHER comes forward.)
PREACHER. For a time, we will feel alone without him. His wife,
Nora; his daughter, Martha; his many, many friendsall will
deeply feel his absence in the coming weeks and months.
(The PREACHER fades as YOUNG MARTHA and YOUNG
NORA enter. YOUNG MARTHA is carrying a baby in a blanket.)
YOUNG MARTHA. (Whispering:) Hi, Mom.
YOUNG NORA. Hello, hello, hello. Let me see that baby. Come
here, little Robin.
NORA. Let me see that baby.
YOUNG MARTHA. Shes asleep, finally. She cried all the way over
until ten minutes ago.
YOUNG NORA. I wont wake her. Let me see. (To the bundle:)
Dont you want to say hi to Grammy?
YOUNG MARTHA. Mom, dont wake her up!
YOUNG NORA. I wont, I wont.
YOUNG MARTHA. Wheres Dad?
 Noras Lost 19

YOUNG NORA. Hes taking a nap. He said you should go wake

him up when you got here.
YOUNG MARTHA. Oh, Ill wake him up, all right. This will be
sweet revenge for all those mornings he wouldnt let me sleep in.
(She exits.)
VOICE 11. Its when your mother and your father and all your
friends
JACK. We wont really die.
VOICE 12. Stop this blasphemy!
YOUNG NORA. (To the baby:) Wake up, little Robin. You can sleep
later. Say hi to Grandma.
(YOUNG MARTHA screams from offstage. The scream is joined by
many other screams. The stage begins to swirl. NORA grows more
and more disoriented at the sounds and sights in chaos around her.
At one point, GENE comes out, lying as if dead.)
YOUNG MARTHA. Daddy!
VOICE 13. Sorry.
VOICE 14. Sorry.
VOICE 15. Sorry.
VOICE 16. Sorry.
(Knock on the door.)
VOICE 17. Not feeling so good.
VOICE 1. He kindly stopped for me.
(Gunshot.)
YOUNG MARTHA. Mama! Mama!
(Baby crying.)
VOICE 2, 3, 4. Dont let them in!
VOICE 5, 6, 7. The eternal note of sadness.
(Knock on the door.)
20 Alan Haehnel

VOICE 8. Nora?
VOICE 9. Nora.
VOICE 10. Build us a cottage by the sea.
VOICE 11. Its got angels
VOICE 12. You look pale.
VOICE 13. Could not stop for
VOICE 14. Be my wife.
VOICE 15, 16, 17. Dont let them in!
(The knocking, singing, crying, shootingall come to a crescendo
and NORA falls to the floor. Everything goes to black for a moment,
then the light comes up to MARTHA speaking with a NURSE at
NORAs nursing home.)
NURSE. Martha. We, uhthat is, I didnt know you were coming
by tonight.
MARTHA. Ive never needed an appointment in the past. Have
you seen my mother? Shes not in her room.
NURSE. No, no, of course you dont need an appointment.
MARTHA. Good. Im glad to hear that. Where is my mother?
NURSE. Uhshewell, you know how she wanders.
MARTHA. Ive checked all the rooms.
NURSE. Martha, I dont want to alarm you, butNoras lost.
MARTHA. Lost?
NURSE. This happens now and then with patients who
MARTHA. The doors are supposed to be locked, I thought.
NURSE. We have people out looking for
MARTHA. Out? What do you mean out? You think shes out-
side?
NURSE. Im sure theyll be back with her soon.
 Noras Lost 21

MARTHA. How long has she been lost?

NURSE. As I said, this does happen now and then. Weve never
MARTHA. How long?
NURSE. Its been a couple of hours since we noticed her missing.
MARTHA. Since you noticed? So she could have been gone longer
than that?
NURSE. Its possible.
MARTHA. Well, what did the police say?
NURSE. We have people out looking
MARTHA. You havent called the police?
NURSE. The director has been alerted. Hes on the way.
MARTHA. The director? What the hell difference does that make?
We need to find my mother! Call the police! Call the fire depart-
menteverybody!
NURSE. Im sorry! We didnt know you were
MARTHA. You didnt know I was coming? Is that it? So you
thought you could just keep this under wraps and go find her and
nobody would be the wiser. Is that it?
NURSE. No, thats not what I meant.
MARTHA. This may be just some patient to you. Some babbling
old woman who has to be showered and put to bed on schedule,
but Nora happens to be my mother. Do you understand that?
NURSE. Perfectly. Ill call the police.
(Cross-fade back to NORA in the woods. YOUNG MARTHA is
kneeling next to NORA.)
YOUNG MARTHA. Mom? Mom, wake up.
(NORA awakes.)
YOUNG MARTHA. Hi. Im glad you finally got some sleep. How
are you doing?
22 Alan Haehnel

NORA. Gene?
YOUNG MARTHA. I know. How many times did he mention that
crazy cottage by the sea? I know, Mom. You need to get dressed for
the funeral soon.
NORA. Wheres the baby?
YOUNG MARTHA. Robins fine. Jim is with her.
NORA. You need to. You should.
YOUNG MARTHA. Dont you worry about us right now. Jim and I
will work things out. Lets get you dressed.
(YOUNG MARTHA fades. GENE appears. DEATH comes from
the opposite side as GENE.)
GENE. Hey! Hey, you! Whats your name? Come on, just tell me
your name. What could it hurt? Im Gene.
DEATH. Nora, we need to go soon.
(NORA shrugs away from DEATH, crossing to GENE.)
GENE. Who are you?
NORA. Im Nora.
GENE. Nora? Now thats a nice name. Know something, Nora? I
think youre about the prettiest thing Ive ever seen.
DEATH. Nora?
(NORA waves DEATH away.)
GENE. (Exiting:) How about taking a little spin with me? Come on!
(DEATH exits.)
CAROLERS. Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open
sleigh
YOUNG MARTHA. (Entering:) Before I say the poem, I have to
admit that II was kind of jealous of all the attention Mark was
getting when he was in Vietnam. I wish I could apologize to him.
And I want to tell my parents, too, that Im sorry. This is Dover
Beach.
 Noras Lost 23

(YOUNG MARTHA exits.)

VOICE 1. The sea is calm tonight.
VOICE 2. The tide is full.
VOICE 3. The moon lies fair.
(MARK and JACK come running in again, playing war. YOUNG
NORA catches them this time.)
MARK. Bang! Bang, bang, bang!
NORA. You come here.
YOUNG NORA. Mark, where is your sister? I needed you to watch
her.
(MARK makes the sound of a machine gun firing at his friend.)
YOUNG NORA. Mark, where is Martha?
JACK. Shes dead, Mrs. Blodgett. We shot her already.
MARK. And I got you! Bang, bang!
JACK. You did not! You missed me by a mile!
YOUNG NORA. Mark Elliot Blodgett!
MARK. Yeah, Mom?
YOUNG NORA. Where is Martha? What do you mean shes dead?
MARK. We shot her. Shes in her room. She has to stay there for
three minutes before she can be alive again and fight us.
YOUNG NORA. I want you to stop this game.
MARK. Aw, Mom, why?
YOUNG NORA. Martha, come here!
JACK. We didnt hurt her, Mrs. Blodgett.
YOUNG NORA. Well, youre hurting me. Do you know that boys
just a few years older than you are actually fighting a real war with
real bullets?
JACK. Yeah, and when I get old enough, I want to go, too.
24 Alan Haehnel

YOUNG NORA. Jack Wiggins, you dont know what youre say-
ing. (Sitting on the stage, bringing the boys in close to her.) Come here.
Come on, you two. Do you know what death is? Do you?
MARK. Its when you stop breathing.
YOUNG NORA. Its when you stop beingforever! Its when your
mother and your father and all your friends never get to see you or
talk to you or hold you, ever again. So when you boys run around
here pretending that youre trying to shoot each otherit hurts me.
Please dont do it anymore.
NORA. (Overlapping YOUNG NORAs last line:) It hurts me.
MARK. We wont really die, Mamma.
JACK. We promise we wont, Mrs. Blodgett.
YOUNG NORA. Go find Martha, will you? Tell her I want to see
her.
(JACK and MARK run off, shooting at each other again.)
YOUNG NORA. Tell Martha to come here right now! Martha!
Martha!
VOICE 4. Mamma, come find me!
VOICE 5. Come find me!
VOICE 6. Find me, Mamma!
GENE. (Crossing the stage:) Nora, Marthas gone. She got out of the
tent somehow. She wandered off.
NORA. Where is she? Martha!
MARK. (Speaking to NORA:) Mom, I dont want to play hide-n-seek
with Martha again. Its the only game she wants to play!
NORA. I have topapers.
MARK. Well, when are you gonna be done grading your papers?
Cant I have Bob come over?
NORA. Not today.
MARK. But Martha bugs the crap out of me, Mom!
 Noras Lost 25

NORA. Language!
MARK. (Exiting:) Sorry.
VOICE 7. Deeply feel his absence.
VOICE 8. Do not weep, maiden.
BILL. (Floating in just long enough to say his line:) Mrs. Blodgett, I un-
derstand that youve come a long way and all, butI dont think
this is a good idea. You should probably just leave it alone.
VOICE 9. We killed the three of them.
VOICE 10. I think Im seeing ghosts.
VOICE 11. As on a darkling plain.
GENE. (Entering with a mobile:) Honey, look. I finished it. Its going
to go over the crib. It spinssee? Its got angels and clouds and
stars.
VOICE 12. Angels.
VOICE 13. Clouds.
VOICE 14. Stars.
GENE. You like it?
NORA. Stars. So pretty.
GENE. You do? I hoped you would. This is the closest thing I can
get to a poem, I guess. You like it?
NORA. Gene.
(GENE exits.)
VOICE 15. He kindly stopped for me.
VOICE 16. Mother whose heart hung humble as a button.
VOICE 17. Nora, listen.
(YOUNG NORA and YOUNG MARTHA enter.)
YOUNG NORA. Did you say your prayers, Martha?
YOUNG MARTHA. No.
26 Alan Haehnel

YOUNG NORA. Why not?

YOUNG MARTHA. Never mind. Ill say them.
YOUNG NORA. Why dont you let me hear you say them now?
YOUNG MARTHA. Ill do it later.
YOUNG NORA. Id like to hear them now.
YOUNG MARTHA. Why now?
YOUNG NORA. Because something about your tone tells me
youre not planning to say them at all and I want to make certain
you do.
VOICE 1. You acted like it could save the world.
YOUNG MARTHA. (Quickly:) Our Father which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on
Earth as it is
YOUNG NORA. Say a real prayer.
NORA. Say a real prayer.
YOUNG MARTHA. That is real. Its the Lords Prayer, Ma.
YOUNG NORA. I know what it is and I know, the way you were
saying it, that it wasnt sincere.
YOUNG MARTHA. What do you want, Mama? A real prayer for
Mark? Is that what youre after? Dear God, please keep my holy son
Mark safe from harm? Bring him home so I dont have to spend all
of my time with my one rotten daughter, Martha?
YOUNG NORA. Martha.
YOUNG MARTHA. Dear God, if it by thy will, let Martha go to
Vietnam and just bring my better child home safe, will you? Is that
what you want me to pray for, Mama? Is that the deal youre after
from God?
YOUNG NORA. Martha, stop it, now!
NORA. Stop it!
 Noras Lost 27

YOUNG MARTHA. Dear God, if you must take one of my chil-

dren, let it be the girl!
YOUNG NORA. Stop this blasphemy now!
(YOUNG NORA and YOUNG MARTHA exit.)
VOICE 2. Stop this blasphemy now.
VOICE 3. Stop this blasphemy.
VOICE 4. Stop this.
VOICE 5. Stop.
(MARK appears, writing a letter and speaking.)
MARK. I keep praying that something will break over here. Some-
thing. Its seems like there are only three things for sure right now:
heat, confusion and boredom.
JACK. (Entering, sneaking around amidst the trees as if playing war:) I
got you!
MARK. We live with those every day.
GENE. Its his choice, Nora.
VOICE 6. His choice.
VOICE 7. His choice.
MARK. They still havent issued us rifles yet, but well be getting
them soon, before we ship out to Phuoc Vinh. The fightings sup-
posed to be pretty heavy there.
JACK. Ive got a bazooka! Phoom!
MARK. For now, all we do is play cards and have knife-throwing
competitions.
JACK. You missed me by a mile!
YOUNG NORA. Jack Wiggins, you dont know what youre say-
ing.
(JACK runs off.)
28 Alan Haehnel

NANCY. (Crossing the stage, reciting:) All Soulsall living bodies,

though they be ever so different, or in different worlds, / All gase-
ous, water, vegetable, mineral processesthe fishes, the brutes, /
All men and womenme also
(The sound of firecrackers. NORA cries out. GENE enters.)
GENE. Nora, Honey, its all right. Its just kids playing with fire-
crackers.
NORA. The children. Are they hurt?
GENE. No, Mark and Martha are in the back yard with some spar-
klers. Theyre all right. Its just kids having fun.
JACK. You have to stay dead for three minutes!
(GENE exits. We hear the sound of laughter.)
VOICE 8. Come see the tree house!
YOUNG NORA. (Entering, speaking as a teacher:) All right, settle
down! Settle it down!
MARK. (Entering:) I think about how you used to be in class, when
I was your student. That must have been weird, having your own
kid in class.
YOUNG NORA. Mr. Finnegan, have a seat. Now, I want to share a
poem with you today. Yes, another one, of course another one!
MARK. To tell the truth, most of the guyseven me, I have to ad-
mitthought you were pretty crazy, going on like you used to
about poetry.
YOUNG NORA. Poetry is life, ladies and gentlemen. It is the ex-
pression of human desire. Without poetry, we are nothing! Noth-
ing!
MARK. You acted like it could save the world.
DARCY. (Entering:) I cant remember it, Mrs. Blodgett!
YOUNG NORA. (Helping DARCY recite:) We slowly drove, he
knew no haste
NORA. (Overlapping:) Knew no haste.
 Noras Lost 29

DARCY. Oh, yeah. And I had put away / My labor, and my lei-
sure too, / For his civility.
(The door moves forward. We hear knocking on it.)
GENE. Nora, we have to answer the door.
DEATH. Nora, we need to go soon.
DARCY. Um We passed the school where children played / At
wrestling in a ring; / We passed the fields of gazing grain, / We
passed the setting sun.
(YOUNG MARTHA enters, screaming, followed by MARK acting
like a monster.)
YOUNG MARTHA. No! No! Dont!
MARK. Im going to get you!
YOUNG MARTHA. Dont you dare! Mama!
MARK. (Pouncing on YOUNG MARTHA, tickling her:) Im the tickle
monster! I am the tickle monster!
GENE. (Entering:) Whats going on in here?
YOUNG MARTHA. Daddy, hes tickling me.
MARK. Stop tattling, Martha.
YOUNG MARTHA. Well, you were!
GENE. Now, you listen, you two. If theres going to be any tickling
around hereIm going to do it!
(GENE starts tickling the two of them. They laugh and howl to-
gether, then freeze. The PREACHER comes forward.)
PREACHER. We may feel as if we cant go on. In those moments,
though, God is waiting for us to call on him. God desires that we
come to Him, that we find peace in His bosom.
CAROLERS. Joy to the world
(GENE unfreezes, exits. The CAROLERS continue to hum the tune
under the PREACHERs words.)
30 Alan Haehnel

PREACHER. He will lift our burdens if we will but surrender them

to him. Nora, Martha, do not attempt to hide your grief; do not let
pride or vanity have a place in your hearts.
YOUNG MARTHA. (Unfreezing, crossing to NORA:) I want to be a
worm this year, Mamma. Can you make me a worm?
(YOUNG MARTHA exits.)
PREACHER. Open yourselves to your Lord and Savior at this time
of mourning, and let Him provide.
MARK. (Unfreezing, overlapping on the PREACHERs words:) I could
never understand why your poetry mattered so much. But over
here, Ma, all the sudden it matters.
DARCY. We paused before a house that seemed / A swelling of
the ground
MARK. When Im on watch and theres nobody to talk to and my
eyes start playing tricks on me so I think Im seeing ghosts, or dur-
ing the times when youre just waiting for something to happen
theres a lot of those timesI wish I had poetry in my head.
DARCY. The roof was scarcely visible, / The cornice but a
mound.
MARK. Just some good, important words to keep me from cracking
up. Sure, theres plenty of words over here, but most of them are
grunts and shouts or just small talk, complaints about the heat, the
grub.
DARCY. Since then tis centuries; but eachbut each Im done.
Thats all I can remember.
(DARCY exits.)
MARK. Dover Beach. Thats the one poem you wanted me to
learn by heart. I never got much of it down, but I remember one
part where it says
(YOUNG MARTHA and YOUNG NORA enter.)
MARK, YOUNG MARTHA, YOUNG NORA. for the world,
which seems / To lie before us like a land of dreams, / so various,
 Noras Lost 31

so beautiful, so new / Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light /
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain.
(NORA echoes the above lines occasionally, coming in with an occa-
sional word.)
MARK. Those are some good words. I wish I could remember the
rest.
(He exits.)
VOICE 9. I got the letter.
VOICE 10. No!
VOICE 11. No!
VOICE 12. Mama, come find me!
VOICE 13. Stop this blasphemy!
VOICE 14. Its got angels and clouds and stars.
VOICE 15. I never said he wasnt your son.
VOICE 16. Cottage by the sea.
GENE. Nora, Im not feeling so good.
DOCTOR. Im sorry, Mrs. Blodgett.
YOUNG MARTHA. Mother, where are you going?
YOUNG NORA. I have to go pick up Mark from his soccer game.
YOUNG MARTHA. How are you going to do that?
YOUNG NORA. Im going to take the car and go get him, Silly.
YOUNG MARTHA. Mama, you havent had a license for years.
Remember? After Dad died, you stopped driving. And Mama,
Mark has been
(The door comes forward. Knocking.)
YOUNG NORA. Dont answer that.
NORA. (Overlapping:) Dont answer that.
YOUNG MARTHA. Dont answer what, Mama?
32 Alan Haehnel

YOUNG NORA. The door. Dont let them in.

(YOUNG MARTHA fades; GENE comes forward.)
GENE. We have to let them in, Nora.
YOUNG NORA. No! No! Dont open the door or theyll kill him!
Theyll kill him!
NORA. Theyll kill him. They will.
(The door turns sideways; we see who is knocking behind it: a MILI-
TARY OFFICER and a CHAPLAIN. The OFFICER knocks again.)
GENE. Nora! Nora, hes already gone! Hes gone. Hes already
gone.
YOUNG NORA. (Over GENE:) Dont open it. Please dont open it.
The CHAPLAIN and the OFFICER. It is our sad duty, Mr. and
Mrs. Blodgett, to inform you that your son
YOUNG NORA. No! No, no, no, no!
VOICES 17, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Sad duty to inform you that your son, sad
duty to inform you that your son, sad duty to inform you that your
son.
VOICES 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. No, no, no, no, no, no!
(These voices fade, leaving only LILAC to speak her lines.)
LILAC. Mother whose heart hung humble as a button / On the
bright, splendid shroud of your son, / Do not weep. War is kind.
(Lights up on MARTHA talking with a POLICE OFFICER. We see
YOUNG NORA and GENE as well. These scenes overlap to under-
score the fact that history has repeated itself oddlyonce, mother
searched for daughter; now, daughter searches for mother.)
YOUNG NORA / MARTHA. Its so cold. We have to find her.
OFFICER / GENE. Were doing everything we can.
YOUNG NORA / MARTHA. We need more searchers!
MARTHA. Shouldnt we have people, you know, arm in arm?
 Noras Lost 33

YOUNG NORA. We should get everyone in the camp together.

YOUNG NORA / MARTHA. We should make a line and
OFFICER / GENE. No, Mrs. Smith/Nora.
OFFICER. Thats a last resort. That many people will trample clues.
YOUNG NORA / MARTHA. What are we going to do?
(MARK joins YOUNG NORA and GENE; ROBIN joins MAR-
THA and the POLICE OFFICER.)
MARK / ROBIN. Did you find her yet?
YOUNG NORA / MARTHA. Mark / Robin, what are you doing?
You should be asleep.
MARK / ROBIN. I want to help.
GENE. Mark, we cant have you traipsing around and getting lost,
too.
OFFICER. We need to be careful that the searchers dont end up
lost.
GENE / OFFICER. Please, just stay here for the minute. Dont leave
here.
(GENE and the OFFICER exit.)
YOUNG NORA / MARTHA. Butits so cold.
(MARK, YOUNG NORA, MARTHA and ROBIN all begin call-
ing for MARTHA and NORA, respectively. After they have called
several times, both YOUNG NORA and MARTHA begin to cry.)
MARK / ROBIN. Mom, well find her. Its okay. Well find her.
YOUNG NORA. (Sinking to her knees:) Pray with me, Mark.
MARK. All right, Mamma.
YOUNG MARTHA. Maybe we should say a prayer.
ROBIN. Mom, we dont
MARTHA. I know we dont normally. Nora used to pray, though.
We have to do something.
34 Alan Haehnel

YOUNG NORA. Oh, Most Kind Father in Heaven

MARTHA. God
YOUNG NORA / MARTHA. Watch over Martha / Nora. Keep her
safe. Help us find her. Please.
(Lights fade on MARTHA and ROBIN. We hear a shot. MARK
runs off, yelling, pulling YOUNG NORA.)
MARK. Mama, save me! Youve gotta save me! Theyre coming!
Theyre coming!
(Another shot. MARK screams offstage. NORA tries to follow, but
KAREN enters, distracting her.)
KAREN. No, Mrs. Blodgett, I didnt finish the pledge of allegiance.
Yes, Maam; I know that the school requires it. I understand if you
have to turn me in. Im justI couldnt say the part where it talks
about one nation, under God.
MARK. (Entering:) Mama, come see my tree house! I put a rope on
it so I can climb up it and down it and Martha cant come up!
YOUNG MARTHA. (Entering:) Mama, thats no fair! I want to go
up! I want to go up!
MARK. You cant! Mama, tell her she cant!
(YOUNG MARTHA and MARK exit.)
CAROLERS. Dashing through the snow
GENE. Well hang it over the crib. I think theyll like it.
VOICE 12. Its when your mother and your father and all your
friends
VOICE 13. All soulsall living bodies.
VOICE 14. Deeply feel his absence.
VOICE 15. Like it could save the world.
(BILL enters, followed by YOUNG NORA.)
YOUNG NORA. Tell me about how he died. Were you there?
 Noras Lost 35

BILL. Mrs. Blodgett, I dont think you want to

YOUNG MARTHA. (Entering:) Listen! You hear the grating roar /
Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling, / At their return,
up the high strand, / Begin, and cease, and then again begin
YOUNG NORA. Mr. Henderson, Bill, I have traveled many miles
to meet you, to talk with you. I know exactly what I want.
BILL. I dont mean to be disrespectful, maam, but I dont see how
its going to do you any good
YOUNG NORA. I dream, Bill. Horrible dreams about Mark.
NORA. Horrible dreams.
MARK. Mama, come save me!
YOUNG NORA. About him dying. I need the truth. No matter
what you tell, it cant be as bad as what I have been dreaming.
YOUNG MARTHA. With tremulous cadence slow, and bring /
The eternal note of sadness in.
BILL. WeI dont want to do this, maam.
YOUNG NORA. Im sorry to have to ask you. Im sure its not easy
for you to recall.
BILL. Theythe enemythey hung him in a tree. Thats where we
found him.
YOUNG NORA. In a tree?
MARK. Mama, come see the tree house I made! Come see!
YOUNG MARTHA. Sophocles long ago / Heard it on the Agaen,
and it brought / Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow / Of human
misery
YOUNG NORA. Why was he in a tree?
BILL. They used to do that.
YOUNG NORA. Why?
BILL. So they coulddo things to the body.
36 Alan Haehnel

YOUNG NORA. After it was dead?

BILL. Sometimes after, sometimes before.
YOUNG NORA. And Mark? Marks body? Had they?
BILL. No. We got there just after theyd hung him up there. We
killed the three of them that did it.
YOUNG NORA. Was Mark still alive?
BILL. Um
YOUNG NORA. Please tell me the truth.
YOUNG MARTHA. We / find also in the sound a thought, /
Hearing it by this distant northern sea.
BILL. Yeah. He was alive, just barely. He was shot up real bad. Lost
a lot of blood. We were careful. We tried real hard, Mrs. Blodgett,
but they had him so tangled up in that tree He was dead before
we could get him down.
YOUNG NORA. I see. Did hedid he say anything?
BILL. (Exiting:) No. Im sorry.
YOUNG MARTHA. The Sea of Faith / Was once, too at the full,
and round earths shore / Lay like the folds of a bright girdle
furled
GENE. (Entering:) When are you just going to say it, Nora?
YOUNG NORA. I dont know what youre talking about.
GENE. You hint at it. You drop little hints and recite bits of poetry
that you dont think I understand.
YOUNG MARTHA. But now I only hear / Its melancholy, long,
withdrawing roar
YOUNG NORA. Gene, Im tired.
GENE. Im tired, too, Nora. Tired of being the criminal in my own
house.
YOUNG NORA. What is your crime, Gene? Just what do you think
your crime is?
 Noras Lost 37

GENE. You think I helped kill Mark.

YOUNG NORA. I never said that.
GENE. Not right out, no, but
YOUNG NORA. So if I never said it but youre feeling it then
maybe its your conscience telling you
GENE. (Overlapping:) Dont you try twisting this around, Nora!
Dont you do it to me!
YOUNG NORA. (Overlapping:) Im not doing anything to you,
Gene!
GENE. He was my son, too! He was my son just as much as he was
yours!
YOUNG NORA. (Overlapping:) I never said he wasnt your son!
GENE. You think I didnt suffer? Mark was my boy! He was my
son!
YOUNG NORA. (Overlapping, screaming over GENE:) Then why in
hell didnt you let him go to Canada? Why did you let him go to
Vietnam? Why? You knew what was happening over there! I told
you he should go to Canada! You could have made him go, Gene!
Why didnt you make him go?
NORA. (Overlapping the above, not in sync with the lines:) Canada.
Why. Why.
GENE. (Crossing to her:) He made up his own mind, Nora. I couldnt
stop him.
YOUNG NORA. Stay away from me! You shouldve made him go!
GENE. (Still crossing to Nora:) I miss him Nora.
YOUNG NORA. You should have made him go to Canada.
GENE. I miss him something awful.
YOUNG NORA. (Breaking down, sobbing:) I wanted him to go to
Canada. He shouldve gone.
38 Alan Haehnel

GENE. (Going to NORA, holding her:) I miss him something awful,

Nora.
YOUNG NORA. He shouldve gone. He shouldve gone to Canada.
(GENE and YOUNG NORA fade away.)
YOUNG MARTHA. Retreating, to the breath / Of the night-wind,
/ down the vast edges drear / And naked shingles of the world.
(From all around comes a whispering, and phrases rise out of it like
shapes through a mist of sound.)
VOICE 17. We slowly drove, he knew no haste.
CAROLERS. (Quietly, under the whispers:) Jingle Bells, jingle bells
VOICE 1. Now I lay me down to sleep.
(Cry of a baby.)
VOICE 2. I could not stop for death.
VOICE 3. Shes dead, Mrs. Blodgett.
VOICE 4. Do not weep, maiden.
VOICE 5. All souls, all living bodies.
(Knocking at the door.)
VOICE 6. As on a darkling plain.
(The sounds fade. DEATH comes to NORA.)
DEATH. Nora.
(NORA mumbles, waving DEATH away. DEATH wont be so eas-
ily dissuaded this time.)
DEATH. Youre cold, Nora, so cold. Come away. It is time. Come
away.
(DEATH helps NORA begin to lie down.)
DEATH. Thats the way. Thats the way, Nora.
MARK. Did you find her, Mama? Did you find Martha yet?
(NORA sits up suddenly, batting away DEATH.)
 Noras Lost 39

DEATH. Nora.
(The lights have gone to black. We see three people carrying flash-
lights, looking through the woods for NORA.)
SEARCHERS. Nora! Nora! Nora Blodgett! Nora!
MARK. Sh, Ma! Theyre all around us! Come over here. Dont make
a sound.
SEARCHER 1. Nora! How long did they say shes been out here?
SEARCHER 2. Theyre not sure. Its been at least six hours, maybe
more.
SEARCHER 1. A woman that age? This isnt looking good.
SEARCHER 3. She doesnt even have the sense to answer us.
MARK. Sh. Dont let them see!
SEARCHER 3. Lets try over this way.
(The SEARCHERS exit. The cool night light returns.)
MARK. (Exiting:) You stay here. Ive got to find Martha.
KAREN. (Entering:) Are you going to turn me in because I didnt
finish the pledge? I just couldnt say that about one nation, under
God. Under God? Over there, in Vietnam, I heard were killing
children. Under God, Mrs. Blodgett?
(The whispering begins, crescendos, decrescendos. We see YOUNG
NORA, kneeling, looking straight out. GENE enters behind her.)
GENE. No luck yet, Honey. Im really gettingNora?
YOUNG NORA. Shes a kitty.
GENE. What?
YOUNG NORA. She likes to get way down under the covers and
curl up in a tiny ball. Sometimes I can hardly find her in the morn-
ing.
GENE. Nora, I dont
40 Alan Haehnel

YOUNG NORA. (Running off, GENE following:) Im going to check

the tent again.
NANCY. (Entering:) All nations, colors, barbarisms, civilizations,
languages; / All identities that have existed, or may exist, on this
globe, or on any globe; / All lives and deathsall of the past, pre-
sent, future
(The whispering again, as if it is the waves at the ocean.)
YOUNG NORA. (Finding YOUNG MARTHA wrapped in a blanket:)
Here you are.
GENE. Ill be damned. She was here all the time.
NANCY. This vast similitude spans them, and always has
spannd, and shall forever span them
YOUNG MARTHA. (Sleepily:) Whats the matter, Mama?
YOUNG NORA. Nothing, Sweetheart. Nothings the matter.
NORA. Nothing, Sweetheart.
NANCY. And compactly hold them, and enclose them.
YOUNG NORA. Sh, sh, sh, little girl.
NORA. Sh. Sh.
GENE. Ill be damned.
YOUNG NORA. She was here all the time.
GENE. Nora, I dont feel so good.
(GENE fades away; YOUNG NORA starts to follow.)
YOUNG NORA. Gene, whats the matter?
YOUNG MARTHA. (Fading away:) Mama, come find me!
(The trees begin to swirl. The lights go to black. The SEARCHERS
come back in with flashlights, illuminating the various characters
through fog. The sounds and sights surrounding NORA increase in
volume, speed and intensity, often overlapping, over the next minute.
Under it all, the constant whispering.)
CAROLERS. Angels we have heard on high
 Noras Lost 41

MARKS VOICE. Come see my tree house!

(Knocking at the door.)
YOUNG NORA. Dont let them in!
GENE. Ill build us a cottage, Nora!
DARCY. Because I could not stop for death
MARY, KAREN, SAUNDRA. I pledge allegianceunder God?
Under God?
LILAC. Your lover threw wild hands toward the sky
PREACHER. Raise your souls and your voices to Him!
CAROLERS. Gloria!
NANCY. A vast similitude interlocks us all
DEATH. Nora. It is time.
JACK. I got you! Youre dead!
BILL. They hung him in a tree.
YOUNG NORA. I want you to stop this game!
JACK. We wont really die.
CAROLERS. Gloria!
YOUNG MARTHA. Our Father which art in heaven
MARY, KAREN, SARAH. Under God? Killing children?
YOUNG MARTHA. What do you want? Dear God, let Martha go
to Vietnam!
GENE. I am the tickle monster!
(A baby cries. Shots ring out. YOUNG MARTHA screams. All
goes to silence and blackness as MARK comes forward in the tree.
The flashlights of the SEARCHERS fix on him and on NORA only.
We hear only YOUNG MARTHA.)
42 Alan Haehnel

YOUNG MARTHA. And we are here as on a darkling plain /

Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, / Where igno-
rant armies clash by night.
(NORA lies weeping at the feet of MARK in the tree.)
MARK. Ma.
(NORA looks up.)
MARK. I remember your favorite line.
NORA. Mark.
YOUNG MARTHA, VOICES 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. (Words over-
lapping, whispering:) And we are here as on a darkling plain /
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, / Where igno-
rant armies clash by night.
MARK. I remember your favorite line: Ah, love, let us be true / To
one another!
Let us be true to one another.
(Blackness. A small pool of light illuminates NORA lying on the
ground. YOUNG MARTHA comes to her, shakes her.)
YOUNG MARTHA. Mamma, wake up. I decided what I want to be
this year. Mamma, I want to be a unicorn. Can you make me a uni-
corn? Can you? Please?
(DEATH comes.)
YOUNG MARTHA. Somebodys here for you, Mama.
(YOUNG MARTHA fades away as DEATH comes and kneels next
to NORA. YOUNG NORA appears stage right, looking into a crib.
GENEs mobile hangs over it. She calls, whispering, to GENE.)
YOUNG NORA. Gene! Gene, come see. Sh!
GENE. Whats the matter?
YOUNG NORA. Look at Martha. Look at her staring at your mo-
bile. Shes entranced.
 Noras Lost 43

GENE. Huh. Cant take her eyes off it. I cant believe its survived
all these years.
YOUNG NORA. Shes so tired.
(YOUNG NORA hums a lullaby. When she speaks, the lullaby con-
tinues offstage.)
GENE. I should have put a music box in it.
YOUNG NORA. No, no, this is good. Look at her. My baby is so
tired. Is Mark asleep?
GENE. Yeah. Hes out.
(The lullaby continues. Slowly, the light over DEATH and NORA
gets brighter. All of the characters inhabiting NORAs memory
come forward and gather around NORA.)
GENE. Oops. Her eyes are closing. Sh. She doesnt want to miss
anything. Shes trying to keep them open. Go to sleep, baby. Its
okay. Go on to sleep.
(YOUNG NORA and GENE fade out. The lullaby continues in the
woods.)
DEATH. Nora? Nora? Nora. Its time.
(The light over DEATH and NORA gets brighter until it is at full
intensity. The lullaby ends. For a moment, the tableau holds
NORA in DEATHs arms, her memories around her, watching. The
light dims as another light comes up on MARTHA, sitting on the
couch from the beginning of the play. She stares straight ahead,
bleakly. ROBIN enters behind her, carrying a photo album.)
ROBIN. Television is usually a lot more entertaining if you turn it
on.
MARTHA. Hm.
ROBIN. Listen, I couldnt ask you at the funeral, but I was looking
at the photos you set out, the ones of Grandma Nora? Ma? You
know what Im talking about?
MARTHA. Yes.
44 Alan Haehnel

(ROBIN sits next to MARTHA, sets the photo album down pur-
posefully on their laps.)
ROBIN. Tell me about her.
MARTHA. I know youre trying to make me feel better, Robin,
but
ROBIN. (Opening the album, pointing at picture:) Whos that? Is that
Nora?
(MARTHA looks away for a long moment, then looks at the photo,
then at ROBIN.)
ROBIN. Hi.
MARTHA. Hi.
ROBIN. Is that Grandma? Is that you shes holding?
(Long pause as MARTHA looks away again, then down at the pho-
tograph. Finally, she speaks.)
MARTHA. Yes. Thats Nora. Thats me shes holding.
End of Play