Notices
1. I've never seen or read John Ford's play "'Tis Pity She's a Whore" [published in 1633] -- I know that it is about incest, but I've just borrowed the title, as I loved it.
2. This play discloses something about the past lives of John and Jane, the protagonists of other series of mine ("The Toy Salespeople" and "The Astarte Nunnery").
Dramatis Personae (in alphabetical order)
- Jane
- John
- Sarah, John's mother
- Tamar, Jane's mother
STAGE SETTING
This is an one-act play, whose stage setting remains the same throughout the show.
The events take place at the Pick Up, a fashionable restaurant which features some closets for clandestine encounters.
In the foreground there is a dining table with four chairs; in the background you will see two closets, with a king size bed each, the door to the bathroom, and other furniture as befits the director's fantasy.
The closets are separated by a wall, and the characters in each aren't supposed to hear what the characters in the other are saying.
A technician is supposed to light up either the table or the closets, according to the action on-stage.
SCENE 01
(At the dining table, while drinking coffee.)
TAMAR: As usual, this restaurant serves excellent food. I couldn't settle with anything less for my daughter's birthday -- and neither you for your son's.
SARAH: And, while here, some customers have noticed our figures and asked for a rendezvous through the waitress. So, we haven't lost time either :-)
TAMAR: You're right, but you shouldn't have reminded us and our children that we are harlots. Today is a day of rejoicing, not just of enjoyment.
SARAH: You're right. By the way, it's now time that we listen to our children's wildest desires to be fulfilled within a year. Now they're both eighteen, they can ask whatever.
TAMAR: I've booked two closets, one for you and one for us, for the sake of privacy. Let's go there.
SCENE 02
(The left closet has been allotted to Sarah and John, while the right one to Tamar and Jane.)
SARAH: Dear John, what is your wildest desire now?
JOHN: Mom, I just want you.
SARAH: Me? What do you mean?
JOHN: To do to me what you do to your clients, mom.
SARAH: John, I can't let you come back to where you've come from. I can't meet this desire.
JOHN: I think that your profession has somewhat compromised my sex life, mom.
SARAH: John, women do mind your profession, not your mother's while evaluating you. I'm sorry to say that you aren't an Adonis, so the only way to overcome this disadvantage is to become a highly regarded (and rich) professional.
Having sex with me won't help you become a man women love. I can help you with a lot of things, but not with that.
JOHN: So, mom, am I the only man you've turned down?
SARAH: John, you know that I can afford to be fussy and reject the clients I dislike. The problem is that sex between us is a no-no. Please, ask me something else.
(across the wall)
TAMAR: Darling, what's your desire?
JANE: You. Do you prefer to eat me first, or me to eat you?
TAMAR: Jane! What are you telling me?!?
JANE: Mom, even though I've never told you before, you know that I'm lesbian. But in this backward city finding a partner is exceedingly difficult. So I have no choice.
TAMAR: Jane, not only did I know that, but also consulted several psychologists in order to know whether my own lesbianism might have made you lesbian too -- but they've invariably answered that there is no reason to think that.
JANE: I've known about your orientation for a long time; that's why I've made so bold and so blunt a request of you.
TAMAR: Dear Jane, even though I am a prostitute by profession, I can't go to bed with whoever asks it. I have to be fussy, and turn down requests like yours, which are incestuous.
JANE: I'm sure that had I been Sarah's daughter, she would have assented out of sheer love!
TAMAR: Ha Ha Ha Ha! Darling, I've known Sarah for much more time than you, and I'm certain that you've just said nonsense. You simply have to ask me something else -- I can't go to bed with you.
JANE: Ok, mom. But the problem remains. By the way, I've always wondered how could a lesbian like you go to bed with several men each week.
TAMAR: Don't say anyone, but being lesbian doesn't mean being utterly unable to get aroused by a man, or being unable to enjoy orgasm with him. At times I enjoy it, although I have to conceal that, and this makes my job more palatable.
JANE: I asked that because I have at times fantasies in which men carnally know me, and I feel excited by them -- so I wonder whether I could settle with marrying a man in spite of my sexual orientation.
TAMAR: I advise you against that. Perhaps the best present I can give you is to help you discover your life goals; if you complain that you're unable to find a sex partner here, you can move, but if your life goals are still uncertain, moving wouldn't help you.
JANE: You're right, mom.
(across the wall)
SARAH: John, today you told me that you loved being around Jane and Tamar. Could you please be more specific?
JOHN: Tamar's tits are huge; I often wondered which was her bra size.
SARAH: 40G. My ones are 36E.
JOHN: How about Jane?
SARAH: She is about 36F. Does she have more strengths in your eyes?
JOHN: She is clever, sings well, plays the piano masterfully, knows Hebrew and a host of computer languages. While most women feel awed when they meet me, she has always behaved naturally towards me, and I've always felt that I could be everything for her.
SARAH: Jane is apparently lesbian, so you and her will never be more than friends; and your inordinate desire shows that it isn't enough for you. Had Jane been another woman, I would have advised you against meeting her again, as having such friendships is the most effective way to remain bachelor for life.
JOHN: How about Tamar?
SARAH: I should talk to her. In principle, sex between you is not incest. But ... you should know that we (me and Tamar) have often fantasized about seeing you and Jane married together. If our desire comes true, having had sex with her mother would put you all in a terrible predicament.
JOHN: Why?
SARAH: Is it your fantasy to nail both mother and daughter? Only men with this fantasy don't understand the gravity of the biblical prohibition against it.
JOHN: Yes. Having both Tamar and Jane would make me the happiest man on earth.
SARAH: Yet an inordinate desire, but a desire I can help you fulfill.
(across the wall)
JANE: Mom, are there some colleagues of yours who could have sex with me, who would perhaps prefer having a female than a male client?
TAMAR: Other lesbian prostitutes, no. But I know one who doesn't decline having lesbian sex, and I may talk to her.
JANE: Wonderful. Who is she?