A Single Drop of Rain and the Ensuing Storm
Act 1, scene 1
The year is 1919 and not even twelve months prior, the guns on the Western Front in Europe had fallen silent bringing a much-welcomed cessation to "the war to end all wars." In Paris, leaders continue to convene for the purposes of drafting peace treaties, securing remuneration from the aggressors and charting a new course forward for the world's nations. Borders are being arbitrarily redrawn, new states created and the colonies of the defeated are to be distributed to the victorious as mandates. Millions of lives had been lost and while the bloodshed had ended, the horrors visited upon humanity by the Great War were being supplanted by the Great Influenza epidemic which was sweeping the globe and would go on to eventually claim an even greater number of victims than the armed conflict itself.
In America, it is a time of social upheaval. Earlier in the year, due to the efforts of the Temperance movement and Anti-Saloon League, Prohibition had been ushered in, outlawing the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors" in the United States. And while the states had ratified the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, the more recently passed Nineteenth Amendment which bestowed upon women the right to vote, had yet to be affirmed. Suffrage however, was not the only issue which women were fighting for as activism for the right to have access to contraception was blossoming.
It is midafternoon on the first day of autumn in New York City, and Sophie Livingston is sitting in a tearoom with her cousin and two friends during one of their frequent Saturday luncheons. Sophie is a very bright, bold and forthright young woman, a suffragette, and eager to challenge the mores of the time and the traditional roles of a woman in early twentieth century American society.
FLORENCE: How does it feel Sophie, to be among the first women admitted to study law at Fordham University?
SOPHIE: I feel
[ponders for a second, then says cynically]
slightly less repressed than before.
EMMA:
[flatly]
That's our Sophie--give her lemonade and she will make lemons.
SOPHIE:
[defensively but measured]
How grateful do you suppose I am to be that the patriarchy has loosed their constraints upon me ever so slightly?
ELEANOR: I agree with Emma--before you is a wonderful opportunity and you should be thankful for it, regardless.
SOPHIE:
[acquiescingly]
My dear cousin Eleanor,
[lays her hand lovingly upon Eleanor's forearm]
always the voice of reason. You are like a sister to me.
ELEANOR:
[smiling]
Likewise.
SOPHIE:
[looking around at everyone]
I am extremely grateful that I have each of you in my life.
FLORENCE and EMMA:
[in unison]
As am I.
SOPHIE: It's just that--I strongly believe that I should not have to fight for the right or ask permission to be treated equally in society... I should not be looked upon as someone lesser simply because I am a woman.
ELEANOR: I think it admirable that you have the courage to stand up for yourself and what you believe in.
SOPHIE: I don't do it for just me, but for all of us... for women everywhere.
EMMA: Do you really believe that you can change the world all by yourself?
SOPHIE:
[confidently]
Of course not but you must remember, that even the mightiest storm begins with the falling of a single drop of rain.
FLORENCE:
[jokingly]
Be forewarned world--A tempest named Sophie is coming to dramatically reshape society's landscape.
[everyone laughs including Sophie]
EMMA: And still, there is nothing wrong with accepting a proposal for marriage and being a dutiful wife.
SOPHIE: Not at all, and I did not mean to infer that there was. However, every woman should have the ability to choose the path they walk and not have it chosen for them.
FLORENCE: Speaking of which, allow me to change the matter of this conversation. Are there any handsome gentlemen in any of your classes?
EMMA:
[excitedly]
Oh yes! Please do tell us.
SOPHIE: Quite a few, actually.
FLORENCE: And?
SOPHIE: Other than a passing greeting, I honestly have not traded formal introductions with anyone.
FLORENCE: Is there no one who strikes your fancy?
SOPHIE: There is this one young man...
EMMA: Tell us Sophie!
SOPHIE: His name is Thomas and he sits in the back of the classroom. He is rather tall and undeniably beautiful.
EMMA: And?
SOPHIE: And that's it. I have nothing more to tell as we have not had a conversation, formal or otherwise.
FLORENCE: Surprising.
SOPHIE: How so?
ELEANOR: That you, of all women we know, have not taken the initiative to introduce yourself.
EMMA: That would be rather bold, even for Sophie.
ELEANOR: She lives on her own, so the young man cannot come to call on Sophie at her parents' home and engage in a courtship.
SOPHIE: That is, assuming he had some interest in me to begin with.
FLORENCE: Do you think it possible that there are any men out there who could handle Sophie Livingston?
[everyone laughs including Sophie]
ELEANOR: I do think it so, but he would need to be a very exceptional man capable of standing beside such an extraordinary woman and willing to let her flourish.
SOPHIE:
[feeling flattered]
Oh cousin!
[Sophie picks up Eleanor's hand and kisses the back of it]
FLORENCE: That was sweet Eleanor, and rightfully said.
EMMA: Agreed.
SOPHIE:
[places her hand over her mouth for a few seconds before removing it and sounding emotional]
Please stop, before you all make me cry.
FLORENCE: There is no shame--no weakness in allowing your vulnerability to be seen by those who care about you Sophie. You don't always have to be ironclad.
ELEANOR:
[takes Sophie by the hand]
And please promise me cousin, that as you smash through those barriers you despise, don't lose sight of all the wonderful qualities and advantages that come with being a woman.
[Sophie looks to Emma and reaches out for her hand. Emma gives Sophie her hand then takes Florence by the hand who then takes Eleanor's hand so that they are now all holding hands around the table]
SOPHIE:
[Looks around the table at each of them]
What did I ever do to deserve such wonderful women in my life?
[Everyone holds up their hands squeezing and shaking them as they each look around the table at one another lovingly]
Act 1, scene 2
It is the following week and Sophie Livingston is attending her Constitutional Law class at the university.
[The classroom has two lines of four wooden desks with chairs stretching from left to right onstage. There is an aisle between the two lines of desks. A large blackboard sits on the right of the stage with the preamble to the U.S. Constitution written in chalk. A picture of the U.S. Constitution and of President Woodrow Wilson hang on the wall.
Sophie Livingstone sits at the head of the class in the first row by herself. The seat immediately behind her is empty, then sits Thomas Hill. Three other male students sit away from Sophie on the other side. Professor Caleb Godfrey stands in front of the blackboard leading his class.]
PROFESSOR GODFREY: Could someone please give me an example of strict constructionism.
[Initially no one responds. Sophie looks around then raises her hand]
SOPHIE: The Dred Scott ruling by the Supreme Court.
PROFESSOR GODFREY:
[With a slightly animated voice]
Dred Scott v. Sandford--excellent. Can someone tell me what that decision held?
[Again, no one raises their hand but Sophie]
