THE CAST: The Japanese Doll The Igorot Dancer The French Soldier The American Indian The Boxing Doll The Siamese Virgin The Chinese Maiden The Painting Angels The Moro Warrior The Toymaker It is a toy shop, on Christmas Eve. In fact, it is very nearly Christmas. It is 11:59, one minute before midnight, when the curtain goes up. The shop is very still. There is a Christmas tree, and a Belen, and many cheerful decorations, decor ations, and eight dolls. When you first see these t hese dolls, in the blue moonlight that streams in through the shop window, they look very pretty indeed, standing on the counter, posed on a pedestal, flanking the Christmas tree. But these are the dolls that nobody wanted. They look nice, but . . . well, never mind. Some were never sold, and those that were sold, -- the people. Anyhow, they look very sweet in the moonlight, especially, with the Christmas tree. They are very still, of course, co urse, because it is not yet midnight. But lo! the clock chimes! It is a long, slow, beautiful chime and you can count the strokes. One – One – two two – – three three – – four four – – seven seven – – nine nine – – twelve! twelve! It is midnight! BOXING DOLL: (MOVES A LITTLE, STRETCHES, YAWNS, FLEXES HIS MUSCLES, BEGINS TO SHADOW BOX.) JAPANESE DOLL: (SUDDENLY) Oh! BOXING DOLL: What’s the matter? JAPANESE DOLL: I’m awake.
BOXING DOLL: Of course you’re awake! It’s midnight! JAPANESE DOLL: (NOT UNDERSTANDING) Midnight! BOXING DOLL: (LOUD, SLOW, CLEAR, TRYING TO BE PATIENT WITH HER) All dolls wake up at midnight! JAPANESE DOLL: (FRIGHTENED) Do they? BOXING DOLL: Everybody knows that! JAPANESE DOLL: (LOOKING AT THE OTHERS) Will . . . . will they wake up, too? BOXING DOLL: (LOSING HIS PATIENCE) Look. They are dolls, aren’t they? JAPANESE DOLL: (FRIGHTENED, NODS) BOXING DOLL: And it is midnight, isn’t it? JAPANESE DOLL: (FRIGHTENED, NODS) BOXING DOLL: And I told you before – before – all all dolls wake up at midnight! JAPANESE DOLL: Oh! (PAUSE, SHE IS FRIGHTENED BECAUSE THE BOXING DOLL TALKED LOUD AT HER.) JAPANESE DOLL: (TIMIDLY) Thank you. BOXING DOLL: (ASHAMED OF HIMSELF) I’m sorry. JAPANESE DOLL: For hollering. JAPANESE DOLL: (SMILES, AND IS NOT AFRAID ANYMORE) BOXING DOLL: You wouldn’t know, because you’re new. JAPANESE DOLL: I was only made today. BOXING BOXING DOLL: (WALKING AROUND HER) You’re pretty! JAPANESE DOLL: (HAPPY) Am I? Am I really pretty? BOXING DOLL: (SOBER JUDGMENT) I think you’re beautiful!
JAPENESE DOLL: (THIS IS TOO MUCH. SHE LOOKS DOWN, AND BLUSHES) BOXING DOLL: Maybe somebody will buy you. JAPANESE DOLL: Oh! BOXING DOLL: (WONDERING) I don’t see why somebody didn’t buy you today. It’s Christmas Eve; the shop was full; everybody wanted dolls. Why didn’t somebody buy you? JAPANESE DOLL: (CURIOUS) Is it good to be bought? BOXING DOLL: (WITH EMOTION) Yes! JAPANESE DOLL: Why? BOXING DOLL: It’s the best thing that could ever happen to a doll – to – to be bought, and to be brought home, to be owned by somebody, to be loved. JAPANESE DOLL: (WONDERING) How do you know? BOXING DOLL: (BRUSHES AWAY HIS TEARS, BECAUSE A BOXING DOLL SHOULD NEVER CRY) Never mind. I know. JAPANESE DOLL: (GUESSING) Did somebody buy you? BOXING DOLL: Yes. JAPANESE DOLL: Then why are you here, in the toyshop? BOXING DOLL: (THIS IS THE WORST SHAME FOR ANY DOLL) They. . . they brought me back. JAPANESE DOLL: (TOUCHED) Oh! (SHE PUTS HER HAND ON HIS SHOULDER. HE IS CRYING.) JAPANESE DOLL: Please don’t cry! BOXING DOLL: (ASHAMED, ANGRY) I’m not crying! Boxing dolls never
cry! JAPANESE DOLL: Who bought you? BOXING DOLL: (REMEMBERING HIS DAYS OF GLORY) A man. . . A real, big man. He was always laughing. He came into the shop, right through that door, and he looked at the baby dolls, and said: “No!” Then he looked at the soldier dolls and he said: “Maybe.” Then he looked at me and and he said: “Yes, sir!” This is the one!” And he picked me right up! JAPANESE DOLL: Did he like you? BOXING DOLL: (PROUD) He put me on t he counter and he said to the toymaker, “I like this one. Does he box?” JAPANESE DOLL: (BREATHLESS WITH EXCITEMENT) Do you box? BOXING DOLL: Sure I box! The toymaker t oymaker wound me up, and I worked out, right there on the counter! And when he saw me working out, the big man laughed, and slapped his knee and said: “That’s exactly what I want! I’ll take five of those! I want a boxing stable for my little boy.” JAPANESE DOLL: A stable? BOXING DOLL: (PITYING HER, FOR HER IGNORANCE) That’s what you call it when a man owns many boxers. JAPANESE DOLL: (HUMBLY) Oh. BOXING DOLL: (PROUD) So he took me home! JAPANESE DOLL: (EXCITED) Right then? BOXING DOLL: Right then! He said to the toymaker: “You can send the
other four, but I’ll carry this one!” And he brought me to his office! JAPANESE DOLL: (HAPPY FOR HIS TRIUMPH) Ooooph! BOXING DOLL: (MODESTLY) I worked out for all the men. (SHADOW BOXING) They stood me on the floor, and I worked out. JAPANESE DOLL: Did they like you? BOXING DOLL: Everybody liked me! And that night he took me home, and he showed me to his wife, at night, after the little boy was in bed. It was secret! JAPANESE DOLL: Why secret? BOXING DOLL: I was a Christmas present! JAPANESE DOLL: Oh. BOXING DOLL: Then they put me in a big drawer, with many other beautiful presents, but I was the only doll! JAPANESE DOLL: How nice! (PAUSE. THE BOXING DOLL IS LOST IN MEMORIES.) BOXING DOLL: At night I would talk to t he necklace, and to the fountain pen, and to the eggbeater. JAPANESE DOLL: An eggbeater! BOXING DOLL: (DEPENDING HIS FELLOW PRESENTS) It was a beautiful silver eggbeater! JAPANESE DOLL: Oh. (PAUSE. THE BOXING DOLL IS SMILING WITH THE MEMORIES) JAPANESE DOLL: But. . . how did you get ge t back here?
BOXING DOLL: (BROUGHT BACK TO EARTH) Oh. . . that’ . . . Yeah. . . The other boxing dolls arrived. The four of them. JAPANESE DOLL: And what happened? BOXING DOLL: Well, one night the big man took me out of the drawer. He said: “Come on, champ. (PROUD) That’s what he called me, champ. He said: “Come on, c hamp. We have some sparring partners for you.? So he set me up against another boxing doll, and that other boxing doll hit me, and I fell down! JAPANESE DOLL: No! BOXING DOLL: Yes! I fell down. So the big man stood me up again, and said: “Come on, champ. Go get him.” This time I tried real hard, but the other boxing doll hit me only once, and I fell down again! JAPANESE DOLL: (HORRIFIED) No! BOXING DOLL: Yes! He tried me against all the other four, and e ach one knocked me down immediately, at once. W hen the other four boxed with each other, ot her, they stayed up, but if any of them boxed with me, I fell down. JAPANESE DOLL: Did you get hurt? BOXING DOLL: My paint was scratched . . . Well, the big man picked me up and said to his wife: “Marge”. . . That was her name, Marge. . . He said: “Marge, you better take this one back and exchange it. There’s something wrong with its equilibrium.”
JAPANESE DOLL: Equi . . Equi. . . . BOXING DOLL: (SLOWLY) E – E – qui qui – – li li – – brium. brium. That means balance. JAPANESE DOLL: Oh. BOXING DOLL: So they put me back in the drawer. And that night, at midnight, when we all woke up, the t he other boxing dolls told me they were very sorry. JAPANESE DOLL: They shouldn’t have knocked you down! BOXING DOLL: No. It wasn’t their fault. A boxing doll has to box. . . It was my fault! I couldn’t stand. The painting painti ng angels were there. JAPANESE DOLL: You’re not! BOXING DOLL: Yes, I am. I’m defective. . . So I crept out of the drawer, and I went to the bed of the little boy – boy – the the one who was supposed to get me – me – and and the painting angels were there.. JAPANESE DOLL: How old was the little boy? BOXING DOLL: Three. . . With black curls on his forehead. . . He never saw me, exce pt in that dream. . . So I kissed him goodbye. . . and I went back to the drawer. . . and . . and. . . (HE CHOKES A LITTLE) and here I am. JAPANESE JAPANESE DOLL: (WANTING TO CONSOLE HIM) Couldn’t. . . couldn’t the toymaker fix you? BOXING DOLL: He never tried. . . . I’m the doll that nobody wanted. JAPANESE DOLL: (THE MOTHER INSTINCT) I like you! . . . I . . . I think you’re a very nice doll!
BOXING DOLL: Thanks. . . I . . . I hope somebody buys you. JAPANESE DOLL: You think they might? BOXING DOLL: Sure. . . you’re very pretty. Somebody will buy you. . . JAPANESE DOLL: (SUDDENLY) Oh! JAPANESE DOLL: My left arm! BOXING DOLL What’s the matter with your left your left arm? JAPANESE DOLL: I don’t have any! (And sure enough, she has no left arm! All the other dolls begin to wake just now, and they wake up faster because both the Japanese Doll and the Boxing Doll are very excited over this new discovery.) FRENCH SOLDIER: Voilah! Merci Beaucoup! Du pain, s’ilvous plait. Chevrolet coupe. What goes on here? BOXING DOLL: She doesn’t have any left arm! SIAMESE VIRGIN: The poor, poor thing! (SHE KISSES THE JAPANESE DOLL.) CHINESE MAIDEN: Never mind. You are very beautiful. Even with only one arm, you are very beautiful. JAPANESE DOLL: (IN TEARS) But no one will ever buy me, with only one arm! MORO WARRIOR: Maybe the toymaker could sell you at half price! JAPANESE DOLL: (BURSTING INTO TEARS) Half price! IGOROT DANCER: Could not the toymaker give her another arm? BOXING DOLL: He won’t. He never does. FRENCH SOLDIER: He makes no effort to repair us. Mais non! No effort!
JAPANESE DOLL: (IN TEARS) If he made the rest of me so beautiful, could he not give me just one arm? SIAMESE VIRGIN: I do not know why this is so. But he does not repair us. (THE SIAMESE VIRGIN IS VERY CALM AND QUIET. THERE IS NO RESENTMENT IN HER.) FRENCH SOLDIER: (FIERCE, ANGRY) Like my leg. My stiff leg. (HE MARCHES AROUND. HIS RIGHT LEG IS RIGID.) A leg with no joint! Could he not put a joint? Yes! But does he put a joint? No!. . . Bah! . . Who wants a soldier with a stiff leg! SIAMESE VIRGIN: (QUIETLY) At least your defect is hidden. FRENCH SOLDIER: (ASHAMED) Yes. At least it is hidden. It is not so bad. JAPANESE DOLL: (SUDDENLY, TO THE SIAMESE VIRGIN) Where are your hands? SIAMESE VIRGIN: (QUIETLY) Did you notice only now? CHINESE MAIDEN: She has no hands. SIAMESE VIRGIN: It does not matter. FRENCH SOLDIER: It does! It does matter! The toymaker is unjust! He has been unjust to all of us! JAPANESE DOLL: To all? BOXING DOLL: We are all defective. SIAMESE VIRGIN: We are the dolls that nobody wanted. FRENCH SOLDIER: (DEFENDING THE SIAMESE VIRGIN) She has no hands, but she has a very sweet disposition. She is the kindest of all the dolls!
Legacy • J. B. Reuter, S.J. • Selected Works and Writings CHINESE MAIDEN: That is true. IGOROT DANCER: (TO THE JAPANESE DOLL) Do not feel badly, because you have one arm. I am a dancing doll. All my sisters are dancing dolls. And I can not dance. . . My sisters are most graceful. . . all of them were bought. . . . But B ut look at me. . . (SHE MOVES, AND HER MOTIONS ARE STIFF, JERKY, AWKWARD) No one wants a dancing doll that can not dance. MORO WARRIOR: (SAVAGE) I’ll kill him! I’ll kill the toymaker! IGOROT DANCER: (GENTLY) He only says that. He can’t kill anybody. MORO WARRIOR: (SADLY) Yes. . . That is my defect. . . . I can not dance, and I am a warrior who can c an not fight, both of us doomed to stay in this shop forever. CHINESE MAIDEN: It is a beautiful shop. JAPANESE DOLL: (WALKING AROUND THE CHINESE MAIDEN) I don’t see anything wrong with you! CHINESE MAIDEN: It is because I am sitting down. AMERICAN INDIAN: (MAKING SIGNS. HE SLAPS HIS MOCCASSINED FEET, AND MAKES A NEGATIVE GESTURE WITH HIS HANDS.) JAPANESE DOLL: What is he trying to say? BOXING DOLL: The Chinese Maiden – Maiden – she she has no feet. CHINESE MAIDEN: (WITH A GENTLE GESTURE OF THE HANDS) It is nothing.
JAPANESE DOLL: (POINTING TO THE AMERICAN INDIAN) What is the matter with him? BOXING DOLL: He can’t talk. JAPANESE DOLL: Should he be able to talk? AMERICAN INDIAN: (MAKES ELOQUENT SIGNS, TELLING THE JAPANESE DOLL MANY THINGS) JAPANESE DOLL: (TO THE INDIAN, EMBARRASED) I am sorry. (TO THE BOXING DOLL) What is he trying to say? BOXING DOLL: That his brothers – brothers – all all of them – them – could could talk. Not only talk, but whoop and holler. That is why they were all bought, because they had such a splendid war whoop. But this one – one – he he is the silent redskin. Nobody wants him. CHINESE MAIDEN: (DEFENDING THE INDIAN) He is very good. (THE INDIAN KNEELS BESIDE THE MAIDEN, PUTTING HER HAND TO HIS FOREHEAD.) JAPANESE DOLL: We are all defective. BOXING DOLL: Yes. JAPANESE DOLL: We are the dolls that nobody wanted. BOXING DOLL: Yes. FRENCH SOLDIER: It is the fault of the toymaker! MORO WARRIOR: He didn’t have to make us defective! BOXING DOLL: He didn’t have to make me so that I always fall down! FRENCH SOLDIER: Why am I a cripple? Be cause he wanted me to be a cripple!
AMERICAN INDIAN: (SIGHS) BOXING DOLL: Right! FRENCH SOLDIER: The toymaker is wicked and evil! BOXING DOLL: Right! MORO WARRIOR: Let us destroy him! BOXING DOLL: Right! SIAMESE VIRGIN: (QUIETLY, TO THE FRENCH SOLDIER) How could you destroy him? (THE BOY DOLLS ARE CRESTFALLEN. THEY ARE HELPLESS. THEY KNOW THAT.) SIAMESE VIRGIN: We were nothing. He made us. Should we not be grateful for our hands and eyes? SIAMESE VIRGIN: Hands are wonderful. IGOROT DANCER: All things are wonderful. BOXING DOLL: I am a boxer who w ho can never win. IGOROT DANCER: Even defeat is wonderful. FRENCH SOLDIER: Women! Bah! SIAMESE VIRGIN: He made us out of his mind. He never we nt to Siam. He never saw our temples there. He never saw a Siamese Virgin. He read of it in books, and he dreamed. He dreamed of me, and made me, and loved me. Should I not be grateful? FRENCH SOLDIER: (FIERCE) Loved you? When he gave you no hands? SIAMESE VIRGIN: (PUZZLED, A LITTLE) I do not know why I have no hands. (CONFIDENT) But there is a reason. I am sure
there is a reason. FRENCH SOLDIER: Your sisters all had hands! SIAMESE VIRGIN: (DREAMING) Ah, yes! My sisters! They were beautiful.. Do you remember the first night we were made? Do you remember how we danced? FRENCH SOLDIER: I remember. BOXING DOLL: I remember. MORO WARRIOR: I remember. JAPANESE DOLL; I was not here. I was not yet made. What was it like? SIAMESE VIRGIN: Well. . . . you see. . . in Siam the music is a little different. The music is like this. . . . (SHE CONTINUES TO EXPLAIN, WITH GESTURES, AND LO! SHE DESCRIBES IT SO VIVIDLY THAT WE NO LONGER HEAR HER VOICE. WE REALLY HEAR THE MUSIC! AND WHEN SHE DESCRIBES THE DANCE, BY GOLLY, YOU WOULD SWEAR THE SIAMESE S IAMESE DANCERS WERE RIGHT THERE IN THE TOYSHOP, DANCING! THEY COULDN’T BE, OF COURSE, BUT THESE DOLLS HAVE A POWERFUL IMAGINATION, AND WHEN THE SIAMESE VIRGIN FINISHES, IT CERTAINLY SEEMS AS IF WE HAVE SEEN A DANCE.) JAPANESE DOLL: Beautiful! FRENCH SOLDIER: The very night that they were made, my brothers were made, too! How brave! How gallant! How noble! Ah, if you had seen them!
JAPANESE DOLL: Were they like you? FRENCH SOLDIER: (CONTEMPTUOUS OF HIMSELF) Like me? Cripples? Not they! They were quick, and strong, and disciplined! Do you remember how they marched around the shop? IGOROT DANCER: I remember! CHINESE MAIDEN: I remember! JAPANESE DOLL: I wasn’t here. FRENCH SOLDIER: Well. . . a drum. They use a drum, see? . . . . And everything is in cadence. . . with the rifles. . . with the long bayonets. . . . The drums beat, and then the trumpets, and then the soldiers come. . . (BY GOLLY, ARE THERE SOLDIERS IN THE SHOP? IT SEEMS AS IF. BUT OF COURSE, THEY COULDN’T BE!) JAPANESE DOLL: (AT END OF DESCRIPTION, CLAPPING) Bravo! Were they all bought, your brothers? FRENCH SOLDIER: All but me. SIAMESE VIRGIN: The man who bought them – them – he he did not know the soldier dolls as we know them. Franz was the best of all! FRENCH SOLDIER: (TO SIAMESE VIRGIN) You are very kind. (HE KISSES HER HAND.) SIAMESE VIRGIN: (TO JAPANESE DOLL) But Lani – Lani – (POINTING (POINTING TO THE IGOROT DANCER) – DANCER) – she she is a real dancing doll! You should have seen her sisters when they were new! It is
wonderful how the toymaker does it! So graceful! You would think they were real! (TOM-TOM, AND BY GOLLY, IGOROT DANCERS! THEY ARE REAL! WELL, I GUESS ANTYHING CAN HAPPEN IN A TOYSHOP ON CHRISTMAS EVE.) JAPANESE DOLL: (WHEN THEY ARE GONE, CLAPPING) It is the first Filipino dance I have ever seen! IGOROT DANCER: I do not know if we are Filipinos.
Legacy • J. B. Reuter, S.J. • Selected Works and Writings MORO WARRIOR: (DEFENDING HER) Of course, you are Filipinos! You were here first! You were here – here – your your people – people – even even before my people -- . . . And my people – people – we we came at the dawn of history! JAPANESE DOLL: Who are your people? MORO WARRIOR: (PROUDLY) The Moros! (BY GOLLY, THEY ARE THERE ALREADY. THEY CERTAINLY CAN SWING A KRIS AND LOOK FIERCE. THEY DON’T HAVE ANY HAVE ANY TROUBLE GETTING THAT THING OUT OF THE SCABBARD.) MORO WARRIOR: (PROUDLY) My brothers. My people. IGOROT DANCER: Our people. MORO WARRIOR: Yes. . . North and South. . . different dre ss, different food, different dances, different tongues, but. . . . IGOROT DANCER: One heart.
MORO WARRIOR: Yes. One heart. JAPANESE DOLL: (TO BOXING DOLL) Did your brothers dance? BOXING DOLL: Well, not exactly dance. We. . . we worked out. JAPANESE DOLL: Always you say that. Worked out. What is “worke d out”? BOXING DOLL: Well, we . . we just . . work out. I mean. . we . . well, we skip rope, and then we punch the light bag. The rope skipping is for footwork. The light bag is to make your eyes quick, and to give you timing. Then calisthenics, and weight pulling, and the heavy bag, and then sparring. JAPANESE DOLL: I do not understand a single word. BOXING DOLL: (DESPERATE) Look. . . I will explain. . . Roadwork. Let’s start with roadwork. (BOXERS, BY GOLLY, WORKING OUT IN THE TOYSHOP.) JAPANESE DOLL: (AT END) Ah! I see! BOXING DOLL: (MOPPING BROW) By golly, what a workout! JAPANESE DOLL: (SUDDENLY) Workout? BOXING DOLL: Oh no! No! That means another thing. I mean. . . AMERICAN INDIAN: (SIGNS TO BOXING DOLL) BOXING DOLL: Is that so? AMERICAN INDIAN: (SIGNS AGAIN) BOXING DOLL: (VERY TOUGH) Oho! Oho! Is that so? JAPANESE DOLL: Don’t fight!
BOXING DOLL: He says his brothers could lick my brothers any day in the week! AMERICAN INDIAN: (SIGNS) BOXING DOLL: (ENRAGED) And twice on Sunday! He says his brothers could beat my brothers six times a week and twice on Sunday. CHINESE MAIDEN: (HAPPY) He comes from San Beda. BOXING DOLL: I’d like to see your brothers. I’d just like to see ‘em! (THE AMERICAN INDIAN CLAPS HIS HANDS, AND . . THERE THEY ARE! IN FACT, YOU CAN HEAR THEM LONG BEFORE YOU SEE THEM BECAUSE THIS WAR WHOOP BUSINESS SEEMS TO BE THE REAL TRUTH. THEY COME HOWLING AND WHOOPING INTO THE SHOP, COMPLETE WITH TOMAHAWKS AND MAYBE THEY ARE SCALPING THE BOXING DOLL IF THE SILENT INDIAN DOES NOT STOP THEM.) JAPANESE DOLL: (WHEN THEY ARE GONE) How wild! How bloodthirsty! (TO THE CHINESE MAIDEN POINTING TO THE SILENT INDIAN) Is he wild? CHINESE MAIDEN: (PUTTING HER HAND ON THE INDIAN’S ARM) He is very gentle. AMERICAN INDIAN: (SIGNS, EAGERLY) JAPANESE DOLL: (TO THE CHINESE MAIDEN) What does he say? CHINESE MAIDEN: He says you ought to see my sisters. AMERICAN INDIAN: (SIGNS AGAIN, EAGERLY)
CHINESE MAIDEN: (FLUSHED WITH HAPPINESS) He says my sisters were very lonely. AMERICAN INDIAN: (SIGNS, AGAIN, EARNESTLY) CHINESE MAIDEN: (HANGS HER HEAD, SILENTLY) JAPANESE DOLL: What does he say? CHINESE MAIDEN: (SHAKES HER HEAD, AND WILL NOT TALK, HER EYES ARE ON THE GROUND.) AMERICAN INDIAN: (SIGNS AGAIN, EARNESTLY) JAPANESE DOLL: (TO BOXING DOLL) What is he saying? BOXING DOLL: (CAREFULLY) He says that of all the Chinese dolls that the toymaker made, the loveliest was Lan Ying. JAPANESE DOLL: The loveliest was Lan Ying. (PAUSE, WHILE SHE THINKS OF THIS. THEN, SUDDENLY) Who is Lan Ying? BOXING DOLL: (POINTS TO THE CHINESE C HINESE MAIDEN) AMERICAN INDIAN: (CONTENTED, NODS) CHINESE MAIDEN: (LOOKING UP AT HIM) Even t hough I cannot walk? AMERICAN INDIAN: (SIGNS TO HER) JAPANESE DOLL: (HAPPY) I can translate that! CHINESE MAIDEN: (LOOKS AT HER) JAPANESE DOLL: He says that you are by far the loveliest, even though you can not walk. CHINESE MAIDEN: (SHAKES HER HEAD, SADLY) You should have seen my sisters. (THE SISTERS COME, GRACEFULLY, AND BY GOLLY, IT IS TRUE! THEY ARE ALL LOVELY, BUT LAN YING IS THE
LOVELIEST OF THEM ALL) JAPANESE DOLL: (WHEN THEY ARE GONE) Did. . . Did I have any sisters? BOXING DOLL: You did! JAPANESE DOLL: Many? BOXING DOLL: Many. JAPANESE DOLL: Where are they? BOXING DOLL: All bought. JAPANESE DOLL: (HANGS HER HEAD, IN SHAME) All bought, except me. BOXING DOLL: He made you last, just today, after all the others were sold. JAPANESE DOLL: He must have made me in a hurry, to forget my arm. SIAMESE VIRGIN: The toymaker is never in a hurry. JAPANESE DOLL: Then why did he forget? SIAMESE VIRGIN: The toymaker never forgets. JAPANESE DOLL: You mean . . . you mean he left my arm off, deliberately? (THE JAPANESE DOLL LOOKS FROM ONE TO THE OTHER. THEY HANG THEIR HEADS.) BOXING DOLL: Yes. FRENCH SOLDIER: He made us all defective, deliberately. JAPANESE DOLL: (TRYING NOT TO CRY) How cruel! SIAMESE VIRGIN: (TRYING TO DEFEND THE TOYMAKER) There must be a reason!
FRENCH SOLDIER: The reason is that he is a mean and wicked toymaker! SIAMESE VIRGIN: Don’t say that! JAPANESE DOLL: But my sisters – sisters – my my beautiful sisters – sisters – they they all had arms? SIAMESE VIRGIN: (CONSOLING HER) Yes. They all had arms. (AND THE JAPANESE DOLLS COME SOFTLY INTO THE TOYSHOP, AND MAYBE. . . . MAYBE. . . THESE ARE THE PRETTIEST OF ALL. THEY HAVE FANS, OF COURSE, AND PARASOLS, AND THIS HELPS THEM TO BE BEAUTIFUL.) (WHEN THE JAPANESE DOLLS ARE GONE, ALL ARE SILENT, ALL THINKING THE SAME THING.) BOXING DOLL: Why?
Legacy • J. B. Reuter, S.J. • Selected Works and Writings JAPANESE DOLL What? BOXING DOLL: Why do I fall down? FRENCH SOLDIER: Why is my leg stiff? IGOROT DANCER: Why am I so awkward? MORO WARRIOR: (TRYING TO DRAW HIS KRIS, FOR THE THOUSANDTH TIME, AND ANGRY) Why does my hand stop, right there? SIAMESE VIRGIN: It is not because the toymaker is defective. He could have made us perfect, if he wanted to. JAPANESE DOLL: But he didn’t want to.
BOXING DOLL: (LOUD, CLEAR, STRONG, VOICING THE SILENT REBELLION OF ALL OF THEM) Why? (TWO LITTLE ANGELS POP INTO THE TOYSHOP. THEY CARRY PAINT AND BRUSHES.) FIRST PAINTING ANGEL: Why what? SECOND PAINTING ANGEL: Yes. Why what? BOXING DOLL: Why did the toymaker make us all defective? JAPANESE DOLL: Who are they? SIAMESE VIRGIN: They are the painting angels. JAPANESE DOLL: Painting angels? SIAMESE VIRGIN: Yes. At night they go around, while people are asleep, and paint the thought lines into all their faces. FIRST PAINTING ANGEL: It’s wonderful work! You know where we just were? BOXING DOLL: Where? SECOND PAINTING PAINTING ANGEL: At the toymaker’s? FIRST PAINTING ANGEL: We were painting the thought lines in his face. On Christmas Eve the thoughts of everyone are beautiful, but the toymaker’s thoughts – they – they were the prettiest of all! BOXING DOLL: (GRIN) What was he thinking of? SECOND PAINTING ANGEL: (CHEERFULLY) He was thinking of you. BOXING DOLL: Us? FIRST PAINTING ANGEL: (CASUAL) Yes. Of all of you. He was thinking of the dolls that nobody wanted. BOXING DOLL: What was he thinking about us?
FRENCH SOLDIER: Was he sorry because o f the money he lost when nobody bought us? FIRST PAINTING ANGEL: No. MORO WARRIOR: Was he gloating over our m isery? Was he happy because we are sick? SECOND PAINTING ANGEL: Oh, no! JAPANESE DOLL: Angel, what was he thinking? t hinking? FIRST PAINTING ANGEL: Well, he always thinks of all the dolls that he has made. He loved every one. BOXING DOLL: (SNORTING IN CONTEMPT) Loves! Ha! FIRST PAINTING ANGEL: Yes. He loves every one. But he cannot keep any, because he is such a good g ood toymaker that all his dolls are beautiful. And so people buy them. As soon as he makes a doll, someone falls in love with it and buys it. So he wanted to kee p his favorite dolls, but he could not because he was a toymaker and he had to sell whatever people wanted to buy. BOXING DOLL: What has that to do with us? FIRST PAINTING ANGEL: I’m getting to it. Everytime the toymaker sold a doll we had to paint a little sad line into his face , because he loved each doll so much. But tonight – tonight – tonight tonight he was thinking of you, and all the lines were smiling lines! JAPANESE DOLL: Why, angel? BOXING DOLL: Why? FRENCH SOLDIER: (FIERCE) Why?
SIAMESE VIRGIN: (QUIETLY, IN EARNEST) Angel, please tell us why. FIRST PAINTING ANGEL: You are the dolls that he loves most. . . He always loved you best, even before he made you, even when you existed only in his mind. And he knew, from his vast
Legacy • J. B. Reuter, S.J. • Selected Works and Writings experience with toys, that if he made you perfect you would go away from him. So he made your leg stiff, soldier. And he left off your hands, my litt le virgin. And he made you so you could not win. He made you so that you would always lose, and would be his, forever . JAPANESE DOLL: You mean . . he wants us . . for himself? SECOND PAINTING ANGEL: You are the ones whom the toymaker loves. FIRST PAINTING ANGEL: There was no other way to keep you. SIAMESE VIRGIN: (SIGHING DEEPLY) I knew there was a reason.! SECOND PAINTING ANGEL: You see, the toymaker always thinks of all his toys. He never forgets a single one! Tonight, while he was sleeping, they were dancing through his head, all of them. . . the Siamese Temple Girls and the brave French Soldiers. . . . (LO! Across the shop there dance the soldiers and the maidens, just as they danced across t he mind of the toymaker.) SECOND PAINTING ANGEL: They are always in his mind, even when he should be sleeping – sleeping – the the Igorot Dancing Girls and the Moro
Warriors. . . . (TOGETHER (TOGETHER THEY DANCE. ALL I CAN SAY IS, IT’S A GOOD THING THIS IS ONLY KINDERGARTEN.) K INDERGARTEN.) SECOND PAINTING ANGEL: He never forgets them, no matter how far apart they are, even if they are on opposite sides of the earth – earth – the the American Indians and the lovely Chinese Maidens. . . . (TOGETHER, THEY DANCE. BY GOLLY, THEY CLAIM THE AMERICAN INDIANS CAME ORIGINALLY FROM CHINA, OVER THE BENNY LEA, AND WHEN YOU SEE THEM DANCE TOGETHER YOU THINK MAYBE THIS IS TRUE, BY GOLLY.) SECOND PAINTING ANGEL: He never forgets you, sweet little Japanese Doll, even though you have only one arm. . . and he never forgets you, Boxing Doll, even though you never w in. . . DThe Dolls That Nobody Wanted 453 (THE JAPANESE DOLLS AND THE BOXERS, ALL MIXED UP, IN THE MIND OF THE TOYMAKER.) FIRST PAINTING ANGEL: But you. . . the defective ones. . . you are the ones he wants for himself. Of all the toys that t he toymaker made, he loves you the best. SECOND PAINTING ANGEL: (PUTTING HER HAND ON THE SHOULDERS OF THE FRENCH SOLDIER) That’s That’s why you’re defective, soldier. (SUDDENLY, THE CLOCK STRIKES. ALL STOP, FROZEN, LISTENING. ONE – ONE – TWO TWO – – THREE THREE – – FOUR FOUR – – FIVE FIVE – –
SIX!) BOXING DOLL: Six o’clock! MORO WARRIOR: It’s morning! FRENCH SOLDIER: (AT THE DOOR, LOUD, STRONG, AND CLEAR) Here comes the toymaker! (THE DOLLS HURRY BACK TO THE POSITION THEY WERE IN WHEN WE FIRST SAW THEM, IN THE BLUE MOONLIGHT, AND THE TWO ANGELS STEAL SOFTLY AWAY. THE TOYMAKER OPENS HIS DOOR, AND COMES IN. HE IS A WHITE-HAIRED, GENTLE, LITTLE OLD MAN, AND WE CAN SEE IN HIS FACE THE LINES THAT THE PAINTING ANGELS PAINTED. THE SAD LINES AND THE SMILING LINES.) (HE GOES FROM DOLL TO DOLL, LOOKING AT EACH ONE. HE STOPS TO LOOK AT THE CHINESE DOLL.) MUSIC: CHINESE THEME TOYMAKER: (GENTLY) Poor little Chinese Doll! You feel rejected. When all the other dolls were bought, and you were left – left – it it was like a slap in the face. . . like a slap in the face. . . . (OUTSIDE OF THE SHOP, SOMEWHERE BEYOND THE STREET WE SEE A MAN STANDING WITH HIS HANDS BOUND, AND TWO ROMAN SOLDIERS, STANDING BESIDE HIM.) ROMAN SOLDIER: (HARSHLY) Answerest thou the high priest so?
Legacy • J. B. Reuter, S.J. • Selected Works and Writings (THE SOLDIER TURNS, AND SLAPS THE MAN ACROSS THE FACE. WE HEAR THE SLAP, LOUD AND CL EAR.) THE MAN: If I have done evil, give testimony of t he evil. But if well, why strikest thou me? (SLOWLY, THE MAN DISAPPEARS, AND WE SEE THE STREET AGAIN.) (THE TOYMAKER GOES TO THE FRENCH SOLDIER.) MUSIC: THE FRENCH MAN’S THEME (THE TOYMAKER GOES TO THE IGOROT DANCER.) DA NCER.) MUSIC: IGOROT THEME (THE TOYMAKER MOVES TO THE MORO.) MUSIC: MORO THEME. TOYMAKER: (GENTLY) My warrior. . . my warrior without any hand. . . .the other dolls were taken, and you were left here. You were rejected. Others were chosen, instead of you . . that is painful. I know. . . (SOMEWHERE OUTSIDE THE SHOP, AND BEYOND THE STREET, WE SEE A WHITE BALCONY. A MAN IS STANDING ON THE BALCONY, WITH HIS HANDS BOUND BEHIND HIM. PILATE, THE GOVERNOR, IS BENDING OVER THE WHITE RAIL.) CROWD: Barabas! Barabas! Give us Barabas! PILATE: But what shall I do with him? CROWD: Crucify him! Crucify him!
PILATE: Shall I crucify your king? CROWD: We have no king, but Caesar! (PILATE WASHES HIS HANDS.) CROWD: (SHOUTING) Barabas! Barabas! Away with this man! Crucify him! We have no king but Caesar! A LONE HARSH VOICE: (TRIUMPHANT) Barabas! (SLOWY, THE BALCONY FADES, AND WE SEE THE STREET AGAIN.) DThe Dolls That Nobody Wanted 455 (THE TOYMAKER GOES TO THE SIAMESE VIRGIN, V IRGIN, AND LOOKS AT HER, HIS HEAD TO ONE SIDE.) MUSIC: THE SIAMESE THEME (THE TOYMAKER GOES TO THE AMERICAN INDIAN, AND LOOKS AT HIM, WITH LOVE.) MUSIC: INDIAN THEME. (THE TOYMAKER GOES TO THE BOXING DOLL.) TOYMAKER: My Boxing Doll . . . . you are always falling down. . . . you lost, in public. . . . you were shamed, and humiliated . . . you fell, not once, but many times. t imes. . . that is painful. I remember . . . (OUTSIDE THE SHOP, AND BEYOND THE STREET, WE SEE THE MAN CARRYING HIS CROSS. HE IS FLANKED BY TWO SOLDIERS, AND TWO WORKMEN, WHO HAVE HAMMERS AND NAILS. . . THE MAN FALLS.) CROWD: ROARS
(THE TWO SOLDIERS LIFT THE MAN TO HIS FEET. THEY STRIP OFF HIS CLOTHING. ONE OF THE SOLDIERS CARRIES THE CLOTHING AWAY, TRIUMPHANTLY. THE OTHER SOLDIER FORCES THE MAN DOWN ON THE CROSS. THE WORKMEN NAIL HIM TO IT. WE HEAR THE SOUND OF THE HAMMERS.) THE MAN: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do! (THE NAILING IS FINISHED. . . THE CROSS IS ELEVATED. THE MAN HANGS THERE, WHILE THE SOLDIERS ROLL DICE FOR THE ROBE, AND THE WORKMEN SIT AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS.) BOXING DOLL: (SUDDENLY, WHEELING TOWARD THE CROSS) Lord, remember me! FRENCH SOLDIER: (SUDDENLY TURNING TOWARD THE CROSS) Remember me! MORO WARRIOR: (TURNING TOWARD THE CROSS) Remember me! INDIAN: (HE MAKES A PAINFUL, INARTICULATE SOUND. BUT IT MEANS: Remember me.)
Legacy • J. B. Reuter, S.J. • Selected Works and Writings (THE GIRL DOLLS TURN SLOWLY TO THE CROSS, AND LIFT UP THEIR ARMS, IN SUPPLICATION.) THE MAN: (ON THE CROSS) This day. . . this day thou shall be with me . . . in paradise! (SLOWLY, THE CROSS FADES, AND WE SEE S EE THE STREET
AGAIN. THE DOLLS TURN TOWARD THE DOOR OF THE TOYMAKER. HE IS STANDING THERE, WITH W ITH HIS ARMS OUTSTRETCHED. THE DOLLS RETURN TO THEIR ORIGINAL POSITION. SLOWLY, THE TOYMAKER COMES DOWN THE STEPS, AND GOES TO THE BOXING DOLL AND THE JAPANESE DOLL. HE STANDS BETWEEN THEM, LOOKING FROM ONE TO THE OTHER. THEN HE PUTS HIS HAND, GENTLY, ON THE SHOULDER OF THE BOXING DOLL.) MUSIC: UP FULL TO FINISH
