A Habitation Of Vanities

By 

Frederick L. Saur

Copyright ©2003 by Frederick Saur

All Rights Reserved

CAUTION: Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that A HABITATION OF VANITIES is fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America, the British Commonwealth, including Canada, and all other countries of the Copyright Union.  All rights, including professional, amateur, motion picture, recitation, lecturing, public reading, radio broadcasting, television, and the rights of translation into foreign language are strictly reserved. The amateur live stage performance rights to A HABITATION OF VANITIES are controlled exclusively by Drama Source and royalty arrangements and licenses must be secured well in advance of presentation.  PLEASE NOTE that amateur royalty fees are set upon application in accordance with your producing circumstances.  When applying for a royalty quotation and license please give us the number of performances intended, dates of production, your seating capacity and the admission fee.  Royalties are payable one week before the opening performance of the play to Drama Source Co., 1588 E. 361 N., St. Anthony, Idaho 83445.  Royalty of the required amount must be paid whether the play is presented for charity or gain, and whether or not admission is charged.  For all other rights than those stipulated above, apply to Drama Source Company, 1588 E. 361 N. St. Anthony, Idaho 83445.Copying from this book in whole or in part is strictly forbidden by law, and the right of performance is not transferable.  Whenever the play is produced, the following notice must appear on all programs, printing and advertising for the play, “Produced by special arrangement with Drama Source Co.”Due authorship credit must be given on all programs, printing and advertising for the play.

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A Habitation of Vanities

or

Where Angels Wait

Readers and performers are cautioned not to be misled by the setting or, at times, the iconoclastic tone.  The play is not meant to be an explication of angels or of such a place as some call Purgatory,  but a study of how sincere individuals, believing they are following their consciences, may overlook their failings.

S U M M A R Y

On a dark stage, voices are heard discussing the condition of a patient in surgery, who dies.  When the lights come up, several people are ushered by their guardian angels into a room where they are instructed to observe and learn before they move on to Heaven.  The first, Orpah, died on her way to a church conference and sees herself deserving of immediate entrance into Heaven. The second, Felicia, is a sincere but officious woman, quick to be very suspicious of other races and creeds.  The third, Prince, a minister, died of a heart attack, and reminds the angels that he has accomplished much as a pastor, building a large congregation and a parish program on the force of his charismatic personality. The fourth, Promise, a black woman shot by a stray bullet, died as her baby was born and pauses on her way to heaven to learn if her newborn will live or die.  The fifth is a troubled man who has lost family and wealth and, ignored by society, froze to death on the street.  Orpah, Prince, and Felicia cannot at first acknowledge their failings as Christians, but through interaction with each other and with Promise and the man of the street, come to understand how their vanities have kept them from becoming whole individuals, and Prince and Felicia pass on into the Light at the end of the hallway.  The play ends as Orpah is revived in a hospital room and understands that her past experience has been a dream.                                                      FOR THE READER, PRODUCER, DIRECTOR, AND ACTORS:

PRODUCTION SUGGESTIONS AND EXPLANATIONS

PUNCTUATION - to aid the actor and the reader: Semicolons are used to identify ideas, which are closely related.

Colons are used to clue the actor that what follows relates closely to the first idea and should be expressed vocally as such.

Dashes (-) show interruptions or hesitations 

Ellipsis points (... ) show that a speaker is trailing off in speech or hesitating, the hesitation revealing that the speaker is realizing a revelation of self, acknowledging a new awareness of self or a situation.

CHARACTERS

Source information for characters' names is footnoted on the page on which each character first appears.  Costumes and descriptions of characters are printed with the character's first appearance in the drama.  See comments by characters about angels with and without wings.  Wings may be worn by some angels if desired.

WOMEN                                             MEN

Orpah                                                   Prince

Felicia                                                  Hoshea, an angel, and Voice 2

Hope                                                     Rehum, angel, Voice 3, black

Naomi, an angel                                   Man of the street

Promise, who is black                          Mattaniah, an angel, oriental

Euodia, an angel, and Voice 1

SETTING

For the ambitious theatre organization, the setting may be a very attractive, though small, hotel lobby or bread-and-breakfast living room.  The author prefers an empty stage with no scenery and five chairs arranged in a half-circle stage right and a table with book and pencil and chair stage left.  Standing frame of a large mirror without glass rear center.  Exits rear left and right with curtains beyond them and lights off stage illuminating exits.  For a stage without scenery, all properties will be imagined by the actors.

W H E R E   A N G E L S   W A I T

A C T   I, S C E N E  I

STAGE IS DARK.  VOICES OF ACTORS ARE HEARD.

VOICE 1:  Doctor!  We're losing her.  Blood pressure's falling!

VOICE 2:  Pulse is thready and weak.

VOICE 1:  We've got a flat line.

VOICE 2:  No respiration.

VOICE 1:  Flat line.  We've got a flat line.

VOICE 2:  She... is... gone.

VOICE 3:  She's gone.  We can't do more for her.  Who's next?

VOICE 1:  Next patient is a male. Fractured ribs. Age in the fifties.  Some internal bleeding.

ACT  I, SCENE II

                     LIGHTS UP ON STAGE

NAOMI, AN ANGEL OF MIDDLE AGE, WEARING A WHITE DRESS AND SHOES, ENTERS RIGHT FOLLOWED BY ORPAH.  ORPAH, IN HER FIFTIES, IS A WOMAN USUALLY IN COMMAND, NOW COVERING HER BEWILDERMENT WITH FALSE COURAGE AND GREAT CHARM.  ORPAH IS FASHIONABLY DRESSED AND COIFFURED.  HOSHEA, IN HIS TWENTIES, IS SEATED AT THE TABLE.  HOSHEA, AS WITH ALL MALE ANGELS, WEARS WHITE SHIRT, SLACKS, SOCKS AND SHOES.  HOSHEA RISES AND MOVES TO MEET THE TWO CENTER STAGE.  ORPAH STANDS BETWEEN THEM AND LOOKS ABOUT HER.

ORPAH: What a lovely room, furnished so tastefully.  I love paneled walls, deep carpets, fireplace fixtures in brass, rich drapes at the windows.  This is strange....

(MATTANIAH, AN ANGEL, ORIENTAL, THIRTY, USHERS IN FELICIA STAGE RIGHT.  FELICIA IS MID-THIRTIES, A QUICK-MOVING, AMBITIOUS WOMAN.  SHE STOPS JUST INSIDE THE ENTRANCE AND LOOKS AROUND, REFUSING TO CROSS WITH THE ANGEL WHO CROSSES TO NAOMI. FELICIA IS DRESSED IN A SKIRT AND FRILLY BLOUSE.  SHE WEARS A HABITUAL, FORCED, SAINTLY SMILE.  SHE IS USED TO PUSHING TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE, ESPECIALLY AT RESTAURANTS AND CHURCH DINNERS.  ORPAH WATCHES FROM STAGE RIGHT. HOSHEA SMILES IN GREETING TO FELICIA, WHO SMILES IN RETURN BUT REMAINS STAGE RIGHT.)

MATT:  This is Felicia.

HOSHEA: You have explained...?

MATT:  I have tried.  She will not believe.

HOSHEA: This is not your first assignment as a guardian angel.  You know what to say as you bring them here.

MATT:  She will not believe but must see and taste.  Of all the many mortals I have attended, she has been most difficult.  

HOSHEA:  In what way?

MATT:   How can I explain?  She says: "The squeaky wheel always gets the grease."  She doubts and protests.  This woman is emotional, unstable, difficult, nosey....  And yet she truly loves our Lord.  She has served Him... in her special way.

HOSHEA: And this place is her destiny?  (TURNING A PAGE AND RUNNING HIS FINGER DOWN IT)  Ah, yes, she is in my book.  (CALLS ACROSS THE ROOM TO FELICIA)  Welcome, Felicia.  We bid you welcome.  

(ORPAH SITS FAR RIGHT.  NAOMI STANDS BEHIND ORPAH, HER PRESENCE FORGOTTEN FOR THE FOLLOWING SCENE.)

FELICIA: (REMAINING AT REAR STAGE RIGHT)  Thank you, but I won't stay.  I prefer to continue on down the hallway into the light.  This man - he calls himself Mattaniah and says he is my guardian angel - insisted I come in here.

HOSHEA: Here you are very welcome.  Here you may observe and learn.

MATT:  As I have attended you in your mortal life, so Hoshea will guide you here.

FELICIA:  (WALKS SLOWLY CENTER AND CHECKS HER HEM IN THE MIRROR.   SHE NODS TO ORPAH AND ASKS:)  Are we really both dead or is this a dream?  

ORPAH: We are not dreaming.  

FELICIA:  If I am dead and this place is heaven, I would like a Bible.

MATT:   You don't need a Bible.

FELICIA: You say you know me.  Well, if you really do, you should know I never go to church without my Bible.  If this is heaven, is a Bible too much to request?

HOSHEA: This is not yet heaven.  This is an ante-room to where we angels meet.

FELICIA:   So he told me.  But if I must prepare myself - (SHRUGS, INDIGNANT) - though I have spent all my years since I was born again, preparing myself - then I will need a Bible.  

HOSHEA: (KINDLY)  No. (HOSHEA TURNS TO PAGE THROUGH HIS BOOK.  FELICIA FROWNS, SIGHS, THEN FORCES A SMILE AND LOOKS ABOUT)

MATT:  (WALKS UP TO FELICIA AND IS ABOUT TO PLACE HIS HAND ON HER SHOULDER, BUT DECIDES AGAINST IT, SIGHS, AND SAYS) Farewell, I must leave you now.

FELICIA: As my guardian angel, you're not much help.(SHE WATCHES MATTANIAH EXIT LEFT AND THEN TURNS AND REGARDS HOSHEA, BUSY WITH HIS BOOK, STUDIES ORPAH, AND CROSSES TO SIT LEFT OF ORPAH)  Hello.  I'm Felicia.  

ORPAH:  I am Orpah.  

FELICIA:  They say that we are dead.  How did you die?

ORPAH:  In a plane wreck.

FELICIA:  Did it hurt very much?

ORPAH:  I can't remember.

FELICIA:  I remember well.  The road was slick with rain, I was late for church, the car crashed....

ORPAH: Was anyone else hurt?

FELICIA: I was alone.  (DRAMATICALLY)  I was in great pain. The firemen tried to cut me out of the car.  (PAUSES, THINKS FOUR SECONDS, RISES AND CROSSES TO HOSHEA, WHO LOOKS UP FROM HIS BOOK)

FELICIA:   Excuse me.  If Mattaniah was any good as a guardian angel, then why didn't he save me or prevent the accident?

HOSHEA: It was your time.

FELICIA: It wasn't a very graceful way to die.

HOSHEA: No.  But no one else had to suffer.

FELICIA: My husband must be grieving.

HOSHEA: Yes.  Of course.  

(FELICIA LOOKS AT HIM FOR A FEW SECONDS AND THEN RETURNS TO SIT LEFT OF ORPAH)

FELICIA: The pain was horrible.  I was bruised - I could see... the car was upside down - I had a broken arm and torn clothing.... (EXAMINES HER CLOTHING AND BODY) ... but it's not torn now!  I refused to come in here until Mattaniah explained everything, though I still have doubts.  What about you?  Do you believe what they tell us?  Are you a believer, a Christian, born again?  I suppose if you got this far.  (TAKES HER HAND, INGRATIATINGLY)  So?  Tell me.  Were you born again?

ORPAH: This all is difficult to comprehend....

FELICIA: I can't understand what I have done to keep me out of heaven.  I went to church every Sunday of my adult life.  Even when I had a migraine.  Some friends said I was a saint to go to church with a migraine.  Blessed are they who go to church with migraines.  (HOSHEA REACTS TO HER STATEMENT)  And you?  Did you go? 

ORPAH: All my life.  I was very active....

FELICIA: I have served on every church committee - Deacons, Trustees, Christian  Education, Altar Flowers -taught in Sunday school since I was married.  I do my very best with the young children, but refuse to work in the nursery; I have changed enough diapers.  For years I have sung in the choir - first place in the alto section.  That is the best place in the choir to sit.  You can see everyone without being obvious about checking....

ORPAH: It is truly an honor to serve in church....

FELICIA: Actually, over the years I have belonged to several churches - several in my town.  I have been disappointed many times with how some situations have been handled.  I have searched for the true way to worship.

ORPAH:  Oh.

FELICIA: I found I couldn't trust - I was hurt when some parents thought I needed help with the children.  I could manage them.  I just told the parents of those brats - the ones who wouldn't behave - about their kids and so the minister, he thought he was kind - so very diplomatic - he asked me to take on an assistant just to "help" - said she knew all about the new methods of handling children.  As if I needed to know all these new-fangled ways.

ORPAH: At times it's hard.

FELICIA: New is not always better.

ORPAH: That is true.

FELICIA: I have no children.  The Lord has not blessed me with children.  I don't complain.  This has freed me to be of service to our Lord.  I have delivered meals and volunteered for over fifteen years, ever since high school.  As a candy striper I met my husband.  In the hospital.  He broke his leg.  I like older men.  I always preferred older men.  I would have preferred an older angel.

ORPAH: That would have made a difference?

FELICIA: Excuse me.  (CROSSES TO HOSHEA AND, SPEAKING IN A LOW VOICE)  This woman...?

HOSHEA: (AMUSED, KNOWINGLY)  Orpah.

FELICIA: She appears to be a Protestant. 

HOSHEA: (PRETENDING NOT TO UNDERSTAND)  What is your concern?

FELICIA: I'd like to know: to what denomination does she belong?

HOSHEA: Does it matter?  (LOUD ENOUGH FOR ORPAH TO HEAR)

FELICIA: Well.... I have found.... I am more comfortable.... We have just met....

HOSHEA: You say you are more comfortable with... whom?

FELICIA: With kindred spirits.

HOSHEA: Spirits may be either evil or good.  

FELICIA: (ALARMED, SHE RETURNS TO SIT LEFT OF ORPAH) Did you hear that?  Did you hear what he said? "Spirits may be either good or evil."  Could he be evil?  Could he be a demon?  Are we really close to heaven's door?

ORPAH:   I don't think he is evil.  What has he to gain?

FELICIA: Our immortal souls, yours and mine!

ORPAH: (TAKES A DEEP BREATH AND LOOKS AROUND)  I will not fear demons, be they here or anywhere.  "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow ...."

FELICIA: Yes.  Yes.  Of course.  (TAKES ORPAH'S HAND AS IF TO GAIN COURAGE FROM HER.  TURNING TO HOSHEA, SHE ASKS)  Is this place ... are we now in hell?

HOSHEA: What do you imagine hell to be?

FELICIA: Well... not quite like this.  This is quite nice, though I have never cared for paneling.  It's so stuffy, like libraries and lawyer's offices.  I much prefer a nice neutral wall with some chintz curtains and some fluffy pillows.  And I like a few figurines.  Hummels and a few dolls to cuddle with in the chairs.  You should see my home.  I'm quite skillful with my needlework.  I'm responsible for our church's Arts and Crafts committee.  We were just about to plan the valentines for those shut-ins at the Old Folks' Home.  I mean to say the "Senior Citizen Center."  Such places don't want to be called "Old Folks'" anymore.  Is this place hell?  I'm not convinced this is some place for angels or near to Heaven.

ORPAH: I have felt separation from our Lord would be hell.  

HOSHEA: That is well said.

FELICIA: (SOFTLY TO ORPAH)  Even if he really is an angel, I don't much care for him... he butts in so. (TO HOSHEA)  I was talking to her.  (TO ORPAH)  Aren't you concerned?

ORPAH: Of course.

FELICIA: Aren't you just a bit afraid?  If we are dead, are we stuck here, with these strangers, with no way out?  (AGAIN TAKES ORPAH'S HAND)

ORPAH: Remember: "The Lord will not abandon (you).... Wait for the Lord, and keep to his way, and he will exalt you...."

FELICIA: Oh, yes.  Of course.  (DROPS ORPAH'S HAND AND CROSSES TO EXIT STAGE LEFT.  SHE LOOKS OFF STAGE, GLANCES AT HOSHEA, HIS HEAD BENT OVER HIS BOOK, AND THEN AGAIN LOOKS OFF STAGE.  AFTER FIVE SECONDS, SHE RETURNS TO SIT BESIDE ORPAH AND, SPEAKING SOFTLY)  There's a large room with many.... (DOES NOT CONTINUE)

ORPAH:  Angels.

FELICIA: Whatever.  Maybe they're angels.   I’ll just take a peek.  

(ON TIPTOES, SHE EXITS RIGHT.  ORPAH WATCHES HER, SMILES, SHAKES HER HEAD AS IF ACKNOWLEDGING THAT FELICIA IS A DIFFICULT WOMAN, ORPAH MOVES DOWNSTAGE RIGHT TO LOOK FRONT, SPEAKING SLOWLY, UNCOMFORTABLY)  

ORPAH: Why, it's a view ... just ... like what I see at home, from my own window.  Except it's springtime here.  How is this possible?  It's not yet spring at home.  I must wake up.  It’s time to wake up.  This is the strangest dream.

HOSHEA: In this room you may select whatever season you desire.  Would you prefer summer, with your roses in bloom and your annual plantings in the borders?

NAOMI:  (MOVING FORWARD TO STAND RIGHT OF ORPAH)  The view from your window in the fall is also lovely.  It is much admired by all your neighborhood.  You may select whatever season that your heart desires.

ORPAH: You say you know my garden and my home....(SUSPICIOUS AND TESTING THE TWO STRANGERS) I see some dandelions in the grass. (SMILING AT THEM BOTH AND SHAKING HER HEAD) I have no dandelions in my yard.

NAOMI:  Artists have used the dandelion in early times to symbolize the passion of our Lord.

ORPAH: I am aware some painters have used it. (CONTINUING TO TEST THEM, STUDYING THE VIEW) I see the columbine is blooming now, quite early for a garden in the spring.  Some say the flower looks like a dove.

HOSHEA: And as a dove, a symbol you may know.

ORPAH: The Holy Spirit.  (TESTING THEM) As Isaiah said...? 

NAOMI:  "Upon Him shall rest the spirit of the Lord, of wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord."

ORPAH: You quote the scriptures well, very well. (SPOKEN GRACIOUSLY, BUT WITH CONCERN)  Where am I?  Has this place a name?

HOSHEA: Some would call it "Where we angels wait."

ORPAH: "Where we angels wait...." (IN DENIAL, SHE TURNS BACK TO THE WINDOW)  The iris are in bloom.  They're early too, since the season that I see is spring.

NAOMI:  If you would have it so.  You must decide.

ORPAH: It's up to me...?  Then we will leave it spring.  (LOOKING OVER HER SHOULDER AT THEM, THEN BACK)  What would you say of iris now in bloom?  You speak of angels and you quote the Word.  Are iris symbolic of  an act of God?

NAOMI:  Some early masters had the bloom portray the sorrow of Mary for her Son, and for His Passion and the mother's grief.

ORPAH: (TALKING TO HERSELF)The colors of these iris are the same as those I grow back home.  That other woman, Felicia…. I must be dreaming, yet there was a crash.  Or did I dream an accident and death?  (TURNS TO STUDY NAOMI AND HOSHEA AND THEN TURNS BACK TO STUDY THE GARDEN AND SPEAKS AS IF TO TEST THEM ONE LAST TIME)  In my yard the earliest of the blooms are violets, some white and some blue.  Do you find them symbolic for the Church?

NAOMI:  The violet is known for humility.

HOSHEA: Blue for heavenly love, and white for innocence of soul and purity.

ORPAH: (MOVES TO STAND BETWEEN THEM)  Last season my garden earned me much praise.  When I entertained the garden club, it seemed to delight in every compliment and blossom with more fullness and color.  It took much work.

HOSHEA: Your garden won't require much labor here.

ORPAH: (DISCONCERTED BY SUCH A COMMENT, SHE CHANGES THE SUBJECT WITH) I see no pictures or paintings in this room.

NAOMI:  There is no need with your garden view.

ORPAH: No flowers; only a bowl of fruit.  (AS SHE SPEAKS, LOOKING AT THEM FOR INTERPRETATION)  Apples!  Of course!  Apples!  For the fall in Eden.

HOSHEA: Not for sin.  But for salvation when held in the hands of our Lord.

ORPAH: Your Lord and mine?  (THEY NOD POSITIVELY)  And I see cherries...?

NAOMI:  Symbol of good works.

ORPAH: And this foreign fruit?  What does it mean?

HOSHEA: A pomegranate, a special fruit of hope, resurrection, immortality.

ORPAH: Resurrection!  Immortality!  Enough of symbols and confusing words.  If this is not a dream why am I here?  I was on a journey, in a plane, there was a crash, and then...! (SHE SINKS ONTO A CHAIR STAGE RIGHT AND SPEAKS TO DOWNSTAGE FRONT, STARING AHEAD)  I was on my way to serve my Lord.  A conference for my church, to represent my friends at home.  They had elected me....  At such a time, when serving my Lord, I feel most secure:  when doing my Lord's work I need not fear that planes will crash and take me to my death.... (AS SHE CONTINUES SPEAKING, NAOMI CROSSES SLOWLY TOWARD HER)  There was a crash, darkness, and then a light, a light far off, bright, and welcoming.... (PAUSES AND LOOKS TO HER LEFT WHERE NAOMI NOW STANDS, SMILING) ... and you appeared and took me by the hand as if to lead me forward to the light....  But then you turned and brought me to this room.

HOSHEA: It was your time.  As "to every thing there is a season...."

ORPAH: (INTERRUPTING)  Yes, I know the words:  "... a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die...!"  You do not need to quote; I know The Word.  I have memorized It in Sunday School, recited as a child chapter and book and taught my grandchildren the verses.  Why have you brought me here?  What have I done that in my death I must stop in this place?

NAOMI:  Our Lord instructed me to bring you here.

ORPAH: "Our Lord...!"  What can I believe?  I listened to all you said to the woman Felicia, but….

NAOMI:  I have been your guardian all your life.

ORPAH: A guardian?  An angel?  All my life!  And we meet only now, at my death?  If this is death.  I must have some proof.  You speak of flowers, symbols, as if you know how I have gardened, flowers I prefer.  You quote the Scriptures, verses I have loved.  Why, only now, do I meet you?

NAOMI:  There have been many times that we have met, when I appeared to you as a mortal....

ORPAH: When was that?

NAOMI:  I assisted you on that dark night on the country road when you were lost, had a flat tire, and you needed tools....

ORPAH: That stranger was a man.

NAOMI:  So I appeared.  There was another time when your purse was stolen, you were alone, in a strange town....  I gave you money....

ORPAH: The woman disappeared.  I had no way to repay that stranger.

NAOMI:  But in your gratitude, you also gave freely, without question, to the next person you saw in need.

ORPAH: And that was you?

NAOMI:  No.  After that time, never again did I appear as one in need.  That once was enough to make you aware of others' needs.  I was what Hebrews calls "an angel unawares."

ORPAH: (QUOTING;)  "Do not neglect to show to strangers hospitality, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."  

HOSHEA: You know the scriptures well.

ORPAH: My vanity.

NAOMI:  True.  A vanity.  One of a few.

ORPAH: You have been with me all my life.  Well, then, you know all of me, my secret thoughts....

NAOMI:  No secret thoughts to fear having made known.  If  known to all, they would give you no pain.

ORPAH:  Well, then, tell me one, and this man, too.  (FEELING IN COMMAND, SHE SITS RIGHT, CROSSES HER LEGS AND LEANS BACK IN THE CHAIR)

NAOMI:  You seek proof?

ORPAH: That this is not a dream, you are my guardian angel, and I am dead.

NAOMI:  As the plane caught fire and slowly fell, you prayed, "Oh, Lord, if death must come to me at this time and place, I pray you give to those I love, my children and grandchildren, my friends, and should I have them, any foes, rich, good, full lives, and may they always love and serve you as have I."

ORPAH: (SITS UP STRAIGHT IN THE CHAIR, UNCOMFORTABLE)  Those were my thoughts! That was my special prayer! (TESTING NAOMI)  What do the Psalms say of angels? 

NAOMI:  "He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways."

ORPAH: You did not save me.

NAOMI:  It was your time.

ORPAH: Tell me, when I prayed that my children and grandchildren would have "full and rich lives," what did I mean by "rich"?

NAOMI:  Spiritually rich.  You have called yourself "one who is blessed and fortunate."

ORPAH: (SIGHS, RISES AND EXTENDS HER HAND TO NAOMI, WHO TOUCHES HER HAND)  Yes, I can touch you.  This is not a dream.  This place is real and that woman Felicia is real.  So, I have met an angel, my own guardian.  And you are real, as real as this place seems.  You have known me, but I do not know your name.

NAOMI:  Naomi.

ORPAH: Naomi!  I am Orpah.  What an irony!  My mother named me for the daughter-in-law who stayed behind, who did not care to go back with Naomi to her homeland.  So I carry the name of the woman who lacked courage.  I have never cared for my name.

NAOMI:  You have never lacked for courage.

ORPAH: No.  At times I have been the fool who walked in where angels....  pardon me!

NAOMI:  When you were born, I  became your guardian in part, because of your special name.

ORPAH: In part...?

NAOMI:  At times our Lord indulges us, permits us to choose whom we are to guard.

ORPAH: And you chose me?  Why?

NAOMI:  For your name.  And for the special life you were to live.

ORPAH: Then you know my life, present, past, and future?  What my life was and will be?

NAOMI:  In part.

ORPAH: You knew I was destined to come here?  This cannot be Heaven.

NAOMI:  Not heaven... yet.

ORPAH: Then predestination is not fact.

NAOMI:  For some.

ORPAH: For some.  For some their futures are assured?  Let me guess for whom?  Iscariot?

HOSHEA: Judas had the right to choose, betray or not betray.

ORPAH: And our Lord the Christ?  He could choose or was it  preordained that He must die? (FOR THE FIRST TIME, ORPAH SHOWS ANGER)  Now don't you say my question's blasphemy?

NAOMI:  When Satan tempted Him, He had to choose.  All mortals have the right to “yea” or “nay.”  

(BEFORE SPEAKING, ORPAH COMPOSES HERSELF AND SMILES AND CALMLY USES BOTH ARMS TO DEMONSTRATE HER NEXT SPEECH, HOLDING PALMS OUT)

ORPAH: No “yea” or “nay” had I to enter here.

NAOMI:  You made many choices in your life which brought you here.

ORPAH: Now tell me, what were they?  (WITH SARCASM)  You'll tell me some were good and some were bad?

HOSHEA: You will learn in time.  It's up to you.

ORPAH: So you say.  Exactly what is your purpose, your position, your reason for being here?.

NAOMI:  This is Hoshea.  He will be your host.

ORPAH: Very Well.  And you say this place ...?

HOSHEA    Is where we angels wait.  Here and... (MOTIONING TO LEFT EXIT)... beyond.

ORPAH: You are my guardian angel, and you my host.  And this handsome room with a special view is where I am to stay.  If I decline...?  (SHE CROSSES TO CENTER BETWEEN NAOMI, CENTER RIGHT, AND HOSHEA, CENTER LEFT, AND PAUSES TO LOOK AT HER REFLECTION IN THE MIRROR, REAR CENTER.  WITH HER BACK TO THE AUDIENCE, SHE SMOOTHS HER SKIRT AND THEN WALKS TO THE STAGE RIGHT  EXIT AND STOPS.  SHE HOLDS UP HER UPSTAGE HAND AS IF PRESSING IT AGAINST AN INVISIBLE DOOR.  SHE THEN TURNS AND SLOWLY WALKS DOWNSTAGE RIGHT, TURNS TO REGARD NAOMI AND HOSHEA.)  I cannot return through the door back to the hallway where I saw the light that should lead me to the Heavenly Throne - if I'm to trust the scholars I have read who promise golden streets and jeweled crowns, though I'd find crowns unwieldy on my head.  I never cared to wear a hat to church, even though some think women's heads should be covered and their tongues silent in church, especially during the prelude and the hymns and at committee meetings where men would rule.  And here a male angel is my host!

NAOMI:  Our Lord wishes you to stay here for a time.

ORPAH: So this in death is where I come?  Selah!  For how long?

HOSHEA: That is up to you.

ORPAH: Up to me!  Not predestination.  I am here because I chose to be.  My will was free to bring me to this place.  (HER ANGER BUILDS BUT IS VERY CONTROLLED)

HOSHEA: Your will is free, as God would have it be.

ORPAH: (QUIETLY, AS IF IN RESIGNATION)  I was a deaconess for twenty years.  President of the Women's Guild for ten.  I organized all the church bazaars, raised hundreds of dollars for the Mission Board.  And I am not yet deserving to enter heaven.  (NOT A QUESTION) You know of my life. 

NAOMI:  We know.

ORPAH: (SNAPS AT THEM) Yes. You know.  (IMMEDIATELY CHANGES HER TONE)  Forgive me. I'm a bit unnerved by all this - this handsome place, your words....    

HOSHEA: You lived an honorable life, a very good life.

ORPAH: Then why am I here?  I understood as a believer, once I died, I'd be with my loved ones.... those who have gone before.  Is that an empty promise, a false hope, designed to win our trust and mock our faith?  As my mother died, she took my hands and said, "Don't grieve, I'll be with our Lord, and Mama and Papa and all our dear friends who've gone before.  Now's the time to rejoice."

HOSHEA: You are to stay here for a time.

ORPAH: And...?

NAOMI:  And observe.  You will meet others here, we who are angels, and some other... guests.  

(ORPAH AGAIN CROSSES TO LEFT EXIT.  SHE IS DOUBTFUL, COURTEOUS, AND CONTINUES TO TEST THEM)

ORPAH: I see other "angels" in the next room.  You say "others."

HOSHEA: Other mortals who are to stay here a while and observe.

ORPAH: (SLOWLY CROSSING TO DOWN STAGE RIGHT.  SLOWLY, CALMLY,  QUIETLY)  Is this what scholars of the Faith call "purgatory"?  Is this that place?

NAOMI:  This is where we angels bring some deceased to visit with us for a time. There is nothing to fear.  You are asked only to learn.

ORPAH: To learn?

NAOMI:  I must leave you.  I must join another being about to be born.

HOSHEA: Orpah, Naomi's work with you has been accomplished.

ORPAH: (REGARDS BOTH FOR A FEW SECONDS AND THEN, WITH CHARM BUT ALSO WITH ACCUSATION)  If you were truly my guardian angel, why did you not save me?

NAOMI:  (AS SHE ANSWERS, HOSHEA WALKS TO THE TABLE AND LOOKS IN THE BOOK) It was your time.

HOSHEA: Yes, there is no mistake.  It was your time.

ORPAH: The book.  It is the book?

NAOMI:  The book you have read of in the Holy Word?  No. That is in our Lord's hands.

NAOMI:  Trust Hoshea.  (TAKES HER HANDS )  I must leave you.

ORPAH: Will we meet again?

NAOMI:  Perhaps.  (DROPS HER HANDS AND SLOWLY EXITS RIGHT.  ORPAH FOLLOWS HER BUT STOPS, ANTICIPATING THAT SHE CANNOT FOLLOW.  SHE RETURNS TO STAND CENTER STAGE)

ORPAH: Earth seems so far away.  I clearly see the faces of my loved ones I have left behind but... oh, I do love them but I do not think of them as I once did.  How is it that they seem detached, far, far, away... removed....  Does death remove us from our earthly needs, from concerns of earth, from health, from food, from nourishment, from love, from family?

HOSHEA: Here you must examine only self.

ORPAH: After I flew home from the conference, I was to meet with committees of my church, evaluate the director of our choir, the organist - some have not been pleased with the music lately.  It was to be the yearly review and evaluation.  They were to come for lunch - chicken salad and key lime pie - and on Friday the man was coming to paper the guest bedroom.  Then on Saturday the grandchildren were coming....

HOSHEA: Someone else will meet with the committee and the man to hang the wallpaper will be instructed he is not to come.

ORPAH: The committee, chicken salad, and wall paper do not seem important any more. But the grandchildren....  My grandchildren have been so precious to me, my greatest joy.  I never understood why grandparents doted and indulged until now.  My grandchildren have made my golden years truly golden.

HOSHEA: They will remember you.  And you will have the opportunity to meet with them again.

ORPAH: Are your words empty promises to deceive?

HOSHEA: Heaven is not far away.  Be patient.  When their time comes, you will greet them there. Meanwhile....

ORPAH: Here I will learn.  What will I learn?

HOSHEA: Excuse me.  I must check my book.  (MOVES TO THE BOOK ON THE TABLE.  ORPAH, FROWNING, STUDIES NAOMI AND THEN MOVES DOWN STAGE RIGHT)

ORPAH: (TO HERSELF)  So be it.  Since this is not a dream, I will wait and see.  

(WITH HOSHEA  BUSY WITH HIS BOOK, ORPAH SITS FAR RIGHT.  FIVE SECONDS, THEN  FELICIA, ON TIPTOES, ENTERS FROM RIGHT, CHECKS WHO IS IN THE ROOM, AND CROSSES TO ORPAH.)

FELICIA:  I guess they are angels.  Some are just sitting.  Talking. (RAISES HER VOICE)  Some of them are eating.  There are men angels and women angels.  I didn't see any cherubs.  (RAISES HER VOICE TO SPEAK TO HOSHEA)  Why aren't any cherubs in that room?

HOSHEA: They are all... elsewhere.

FELICIA: What are they eating? It looks like quite a buffet.

HOSHEA: Manna.  Angels' food.  The same as given of old to the wandering Israelites.

FELICIA: Could I taste it?

HOSHEA: Of course.  You are welcome to go in and join the others and feast until you're filled.  

FELICIA: (TO ORPAH)  Are you hungry?  I'd just like a taste.

ORPAH: Not for food.  I would like some answers.  

HOSHEA: "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness now: for they shall be filled."

FELICIA: You are a very irritating....(ORPAH RAISES A HAND TO CAUTION FELICIA WHO SOFTENS HER VOICE) ... angel. (FELICIA RETURNS TO EXIT LEFT AND LOOKS OFF STAGE.  SHE REPORTS TO ORPAH)  Angels' wings are hanging on the walls.  (TO HOSHEA)  Why aren't the angels all wearing their wings?

HOSHEA: Wings don't sit well.  Wings are cumbersome.  

FELICIA: But they're so... attractive.

HOSHEA: At times it's best not to appear to mortals wearing wings.

FELICIA: Not be seen?  (CROSSES DOWN TO CENTER)

HOSHEA: Not to be seen as an angel.  In times of need we may appear as a human so as not to upset the person we will guard or to draw attention to our aid.  (INSERT:   SHOULD THE DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER WISH TO HAVE WINGS APPEAR ON STAGE:)  I will show you how wings, when worn, require space.(AN ANGEL WEARING WINGS ENTERS FROM STAGE RIGHT, NODS TO THEM, CROSSES TO CENTER, AND EXITS.  End insert)

FELICIA: I can't think of any time in my life when Mattaniah might have guarded me.  (SHRUGGING AND SMILING)  My husband often said I should have an angel to guard my tongue.  I believe in always speaking the truth. 

ORPAH: My understanding is we weren't aware when our angels helped us.

FELICIA: Once I learned he was my own, personal, guardian angel... well, I wasn`t comfortable with him. 

ORPAH: Why?

FELICIA: He was so different from that one.  (POINTS TO HOSHEA) They do dress alike.  You know what I mean.  (A PAUSE.  ORPAH SAYS NOTHING)  You did notice his skin color and his eyes.

ORPAH: In Heaven I should think color won't matter.

FELICIA: But why should I have Mattaniah?  Why me, of all people?  Me!  Why me?  I wonder how angels are assigned.

ORPAH: My angel was a woman.

FELICIA: Then why...?  (CROSSES TO HOSHEA)  How are you assigned?

HOSHEA: You are asking..?

FELICIA: How are you selected to serve people?  Who assigns angels to their jobs?  Is there a lottery or some such way?

HOSHEA: Our Lord makes all decisions.  

(FELICIA IS NOT SATISFIED AND TURNS AWAY, THINKS A MOMENT, THEN TURNS BACK TO ASK:)

FELICIA: Mattaniah didn't wear his wings when he appeared.  That was after I died, but I feel cheated, having my guardian angel appear at my death without his wings attached.  Even is they may be in the way at times.  (MATTANIAH ENTERS FROM LEFT AND WALKS UP TO HOSHEA)  Well, speak of the ...!  (SHE REALIZES JUST IN TIME THAT WHAT SHE IS ABOUT TO SAY, STOPS, AND CROSSES RIGHT TO SIT LEFT OF ORPAH)

MATT: It is time.

HOSHEA: Yes, it is time.  (MATTANIAH CROSSES TO RIGHT EXIT)

FELICIA: It is time for what?

MATT: On your earth there is a new birth.  I go to guard.  (MATTANIAH EXITS RIGHT)

FELICIA: Well, I guess that means he's done with me.  (RISES AND CROSSES TO RIGHT EXIT TO FOLLOW HIM, BUT CANNOT PASS THROUGH.  SHE RETURNS TO STAND BESIDE THE SEATED ORPAH)  I can't follow him.  Have you tried...?

ORPAH: Yes.  I cannot leave.

FELICIA: (SITS BESIDE FELICIA AND IN A CONFIDENTIAL VOICE) Well, perhaps we should find out what's in the next room, where the angels wait. 

ORPAH: (RISES AND CROSSES TO HOSHEA) Some time ago you said I was here - in this place - to observe and learn....

HOSHEA: To study and to learn.

ORPAH: I have spent all my life studying His Word.

HOSHEA: Yes.

ORPAH: You told Felicia she did not need a Bible here.  

HOSHEA: Yes.

ORPAH: How am I to learn without studying His Word?

HOSHEA: If you will observe, you will learn.  To observe is to study here.

ORPAH: What is there to observe?  (WHEN HOSHEA ONLY SMILES AND DOES NOT ANSWER, ORPAH WALKS TO EXIT LEFT AND LOOKS OFF STAGE.  SHE LOOKS AT FELICIA, WHO HAS BEEN WATCHING HER, LOOKS BACK OFF STAGE FOR FIVE SECONDS,   THEN RETURNS TO FELICIA)  Shall we?  (FELICIA MOVES TO CHECK HER APPEARANCE IN THE MIRROR)

FELICIA: There are some lines around my mouth that were never there before.  (TO ORPAH)  And you?  Since you're dead.  Have you changed?

ORPAH: I haven't noticed.  

FELICIA: I have always been known for a perfect complexion.  I never frown.  Frowning creates lines around the eyes.  And there are also some around my mouth.  They make me look....  Oh, never mind.  I never talk with people about my looks.  I always look nice.  But now... considering the accident... the pain...perhaps.  I should look....  How can it be?  These lines....

ORPAH: I wish that I could look so young.  LAUGHS LIGHTLY) I doubt that we should worry about how we look now that we're.... about to visit a place where angels wait.

FELICIA: I'd like to taste manna.  I've always wondered if it satisfied, not just filled and nourished, but was pleasant to taste.

ORPAH: I hunger after something other than food.(WITH A TOUCH OF SARCASM)  After all, why should we be concerned, since we are dead, for food?  My body does not tell me I am hungry.  But my spirit....

(ORPAH AND FELICIA CROSS TO EXIT LEFT, PAUSE, LOOK AT EACH OTHER, SHRUG, SMILE, AND EXIT LEFT.  FELICIA PRECEDES ORPAH, ORPAH TOUCHES FELICIA'S FRILLY BLOUSE AND FROWNS IN DISTASTE.  HOSHEA HAS WATCHED THEM AND SMILES)

HOSHEA: "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; he that believeth on me shall never thirst."  May your search bring to you both answers.  

(HOSHEA PAGES THROUGH THE BOOK.  AFTER FIVE SECONDS, THE ANGEL EUODIA, IN HER TWENTIES, ENTERS FROM STAGE RIGHT, ASSISTING PROMISE, ALSO IN HER TWENTIES.  PROMISE IS A YOUNG BLACK WOMAN WEARING A HOUSE DRESS.  SHE IS TRUSTING AND CALM.  HOSHEA RISES, SHAKING HIS HEAD IN NEGATION AT THEIR ENTRANCE.  SHOULD THE DIRECTOR/PRODUCER WISH, EUODIA MAY WEAR WINGS)

HOSHEA: This is a mistake.

EUODIA: Yes.  I know.  This is Promise.

HOSHEA: (CHECKING HIS BOOK)  She is not listed here.

EUODIA: I have explained everything to her.

HOSHEA: You need not stop by here.  Our Lord awaits to welcome you into His Presence. 

EUODIA:  Promise wishes to wait here until she learns of her child.  It's just been born.

PROMISE:  I planned to name her Angel.  Was I wrong?  I have prayed for a healthy baby and I know he or she will be beautiful.

EUODIA:  Your child will be an angel.

PROMISE:  Then you know?

EUODIA:  An angel.  Already a guardian angel watches o'er your new born. 

PROMISE:  That is good to know.

EUODIA:  This is true of all we angels, eager for a birth, eager to share in a life, even though our presence is seldom felt or seen by those whom we may guard.

PROMISE:  (TO EUODIA)  Then you have been with me...?

EUODIA:  Always with you.  A perfect life, lovely to behold.

PROMISE:  I have tried.  

EUODIA:  I know.  

PROMISE:  (WALKS AROUND THE ROOM, OBSERVING THE FURNISHINGS)  You were right about this place.  It is wonderful.  I am not used to such lovely furniture and drapes.  And a garden!  I never had a garden.  From my window I only saw cement, but I always had some flowers in pots.  I hope my sister remembers to water my geraniums on my window sills.  Paradise, for me, will be a garden with dark, rich earth, yielding in my hands, where I may grow parsnips, turnips, beets. And tomatoes, big, red, juicy ones.  (CROSSED DOWN FRONT TO LOOK OUT WINDOW)  And flowers, lots of flowers, like those I see outside this window.  Such a lovely view.  I'll grow the common ones, like grandmother, petunias, zinnias, yellow marigolds; and daisies, lots of daisies....

HOSHEA: (QUIETLY, NOT INTERRUPTING)  for innocence.

PROMISE:   Such a lovely place; may I wait here?  Will our Lord mind if I delay?  Can our Lord's heaven be more beautiful?  Yes, it must be because it's there I'll join my husband, parents, children, all those I have loved and lost; no, not lost, for heaven will be reunion with my own.  Am I wrong to want to wait and learn if my last born will stay behind and live?  You did urge me to go on, into the light.  But it is hard to turn one's back on earth when one you waited for has just been born.  (TO HERSELF, AS SHE LOOKS OUT THE WINDOW)  I must know.

HOSHEA: (TO EUODIA)  Her death was not a kind death?

EUODIA:  Much in her life was unkind, yet her soul is without scar, perfect, beautiful.

HOSHEA: Perhaps it is right that she come here; here are some souls who have much to learn.

EUODIA:  Are you saying this child of the tenements, grieving for husband lost to drugs and crime, grieving for children, innocent, and killed by other children too young to know fear...?

HOSHEA: I say this woman, unfamiliar with the habitations of the privileged, may be necessary to our Lord's plan.

EUODIA:  Necessary?  (WITH A SMILE AND RAISED EYEBROW)

HOSHEA: And agreeable?  Have we ever questioned our Lord's will?

EUODIA:  Or fully understood our Master's plan?  (CROSSES DOWN TO PROMISE) Promise, please come with me.  I will show you where we angels wait.

PROMISE:  Oh, yes, show me everything.  I've read, "In my Father's house are many rooms...."

EUODIA:  This room you are in is not quite a part of our Father's house, but very close.  

(EUODIA AND PROMISE EXIT STAGE LEFT.  HOSHEA WATCHES THEM EXIT, SIGHS, AND CROSSES TO STAGE RIGHT AND MOVES THE FAR LEFT CHAIR TO ANGLE IT TO FACE STAGE LEFT. HE RETURNS TO HIS TABLE AND BOOK, CHECKS A PAGE, AND TURNS TO FACE STAGE RIGHT AS REHUM, AN ANGEL, AND REV. ZWINGLEY JUSTIN PRINCE ENTER FROM STAGE RIGHT.  PRINCE IS CONFIDENT, VERY HEARTY, OVERWEIGHT, WELL DRESSED, USED TO DOMINATING A CONVERSATION AND A ROOM AND, WHILE SINCERE, DOES NOT REALIZE HE IS VERY CONDESCENDING.  HE FOLLOWS REHUM IN, BUT IMMEDIATELY TAKES COMMAND OF CENTER STAGE)

PRINCE: Well, well, well, well, well;  is this the first stop on my tour of Heaven? "In my Father's house are many rooms?"  What room is this?

REHUM:  This is an ante-room.  Beyond is where angels wait.

PRINCE: Very much like my church office back home.  Good paneling, a bit ostentatious, but it never hurts to furnish well, for a pastor to impress the men, especially any business men who may call.

REHUM:  Your office was well furnished, men found it very ostentatious, it impressed all.

PRINCE: Your name again?

REHUM:  Rehum.

PRINCE: A good name.  Though I can't place it.  From the book of Samuel?  

REHUM:  Ezra.

PRINCE: Not too popular a book, Ezra.  Not popular with business men.  (LOOKING REHUM OVER)  My guardian angel.  You have done very well. 

(PRINCE WALKS TO FAR STAGE RIGHT, CHECKING OUT THE FURNISHINGS, STOPPING TO LOOK OUT THE WINDOW) 

HOSHEA: (WITH A RAISED EYEBROW TO REHUM)  He finds you have done very well.  A mortal compliments his guardian angel!  

PRINCE: Good view from here.  Nice garden.  I like flowers, though I haven't time for gardening myself.  Too busy with the Master's work.

REHUM:  Yes.  As I explained, I was always there, watching.

HOSHEA: (ASIDE TO REHUM  ) Your credentials appear to be in doubt.

PRINCE: (GIVES REHUM A LONG LOOK)  That time the sail boat capsized at Lake Tahoe...?  When that storm came up and the fog....  My friends said I just seemed to disappear in the water...?

REHUM:  Yes.

PRINCE: I thought I was going to drown, that time, but someone rescued me, though we never found out who.  Was it...?

REHUM:  Yes, it was I.

PRINCE: You never appeared to me.  I would like to have had you appear to me.  

REHUM:  That would have made it too easy for you.

PRINCE: How, too easy for me?

REHUM:  Too easy to have faith.

PRINCE: Yes, I suppose the world could not deal well with angels in the flesh, substantial, real angels - or with any miracles.  I can imagine the publicity, the interviews, the physical exams.  (AS IF A SCIENTIST EXAMINING REHUM)  Angel, are you really flesh and blood?  If so, come to the lab for an exam.  And on the way, perform a miracle or two for science, please.  (LAUGHS AT HIS EXAMPLE.  AGAIN, STUDIES REHUM  )  Rehum... you were with me all the time?

REHUM:  Every minute, hour of every day.

PRINCE: From the time of birth?

REHUM:  From your first breath.

PRINCE: I wish all my parishioners believed.  Belief might be the making of the world.  To know an angel was watching every move.  (PAUSES, THEN MOVES FROM ABSTRACT TO THE SPECIFIC:) I have lived well, according to the Law.  (WHEN REHUM  DOES NOT RESPOND)  Well?

REHUM:  Yes.  So I have observed.

PRINCE: You bring me here.  Is this my reward?

HOSHEA: You are here to study and to learn.

PRINCE: Oh?  (WITH CHARM, AS IF GREETING A VISITOR TO HIS CONGREGATION AFTER A CHURCH SERVICE) You are?

HOSHEA: I am Hoshea.  Here to welcome you.

PRINCE: An angel?

HOSHEA: Yes.  You are Zwingly Justin Prince.

PRINCE: Best known as "Z.  Justin Prince."  The "Z" is for a noble follower of our Lord. But people can't manage to spell it well.  I prefer to be known as simply as "Doc."  Prince" is acceptable, "Justin" to those of the inner circle.... (WHEN HOSHEA RAISES AN  EYEBROW)  I mean intimates, my close friends.

REHUM:  I will leave you here with Hoshea.

PRINCE: You must leave?  Just when we're... I was about to say "getting acquainted."   You have known me, but I haven't known you.

REHUM:  There is nothing you need to know about me.

HOSHEA: We are "spirit messengers sent ... to help and care for those who are to receive his salvation."

PRINCE: Hebrews chapter one, verse fourteen.  I used that verse in a sermon once.  A good sermon.  Let's see:  I prefer "I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding...."  That was Gabriel to Daniel.  (TO REHUM)  Tell me, do I owe some of my skill in ministry to you?

REHUM:  "Through thy precepts I get understanding."

PRINCE: Ah, yes, I stand corrected.  What I possess has come to me from God.  Don't leave me yet.  I would like to review some times with you, times when I must have sensed that you were near, helping, guiding, inspiring, showing the way.

REHUM:  You are speaking of the Holy Spirit.

PRINCE: Yes, yes.  Of course.  I am corrected again.

HOSHEA: You are not here to dwell upon your past.  Think not upon the future but the now.  You are here to observe and to learn.

PRINCE: To learn!  In heaven!  I have always believed that once we have attained our heavenly goals, all our questions would be answered.  There would be no more study for our souls.  (PRINCE IS FRUSTRATED AND TURNS AWAY TO TAKE A FEW STEPS RIGHT AND SURVEY THE ROOM)  Very well.  I'm here to learn.  Lead on.  Where is the library?  I see no books.

HOSHEA: The library?

PRINCE: I need to check some books.

HOSHEA: Which ones?

PRINCE: My explications of the word.

HOSHEA: Explications?

PRINCE: Explications: writings to make clear.  The latest statement from my publisher listed five thousand copies had been sold.  How are they doing here?

HOSHEA: Doing?  Here?

PRINCE: How well are they read?

HOSHEA: Here you'll be surprised.  Do make yourself comfortable.  Others will join you here.

(PRINCE, FRUSTRATED, TAKES A FEW STEPS RIGHT, PAUSES AND TAKES A FEW BREATHS.  HE IS NOT USED TO BEING TREATED WITH WHAT HE BELIEVES TO BE CONDESCENSION.  HE TURNS TO FACE HOSHEA AND, WITH MUSTERED CHARM AND PATIENCE, SAYS:)

PRINCE: I have studied.  I have published much.  I have a doctorate....  Ask this man, my guardian angel.  And you tell me now I am to observe and study!  You know my work. You know my dedication.  I built my church from nothing.  I started with a congregation in a rented hall.  Just last Sunday, two thousand came to hear me.  Five busses brought children to my Sunday School.  Five!  My service is televised throughout the East.

REHUM:  (WITHOUT EXPRESSION, AS IF SIMPLY REPORTING:)Televised on twenty-nine stations.  I must leave you now.

PRINCE: (STEPS BACK TO REHUM'S SIDE)  You'll l