A Habitation of Vanities

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.

No one shall commit or authorize any act or omission by which the copyright or the rights to copyright of this play may be impaired.

No one shall make changes in this play for the purpose of production without written permission.

Publication of this play does not imply availability for performance.    Both amateurs and professionals considering a production are strongly advised in their own interests to apply to Drama Source Company for written permission before starting rehearsals, advertising, or booking a theatre.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, by any means, now known or yet to be invented, including mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, videotaping or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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 se

A Habitation of Vanities

No videos show for this product.

No images show for this product.