This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Gather by the Ghost Light presents ROMEO & HER SISTER

[0:06] Starring Anna Demetriou and Charlotte McBurney

[0:10] Written by Jillian Blevins

[0:13] For a more immersive listening experience, please enjoy the show with headphones.

[0:18] 2 SISTERS, unalike in every way

[0:32] In gloomy London where we lay our scene

[0:35] They nurse their ancient grudge, rehearse a play

[0:39] And keep their ruinous scandal still unseen

[0:42] Their rivalry for fame, for wealth, for love

[0:46] Hath poisoned both the sisters all their life

[0:49] The elder evermore her worth must prove

[0:53] The younger wishes most to be a wife

[0:56] The only way this coil may-

[0:58] Sallie Mercer: Miss Mercer! Stop!

[0:59] Charlotte Cushman: What?

[1:00] Sallie Mercer: We've only just begun and you're about to give away the ending!

[1:03] Charlotte Cushman: It's the prologue.

[1:04] Sallie Mercer: Oh, such a silly convention. Let's leave them in some suspense.

[1:08] Charlotte Cushman: Forgive me, Miss Cushman, but I don't work for you, I work for your sister.

[1:13] Charlotte Cushman: Of course. My sister. The sensational Charlotte Cushman.

[1:19] Charlotte Cushman: My sister, my sister, my sister.

[1:22] Sallie Mercer: She's waiting for you.

[1:23] Charlotte Cushman: Please, Sallie, I need a respite from this drudgery.

[1:27] Charlotte Cushman: I'm going mad with boredom speaking the same words day after day.

[1:31] Sallie Mercer: Rehearsing?

[1:32] Charlotte Cushman: And all this rehearsal has left me with no time to meet a single suitor here in England.

[1:37] Sallie Mercer: I think we both know suitors should be the furthest thing from your mind.

[1:42] Sallie Mercer: After the unhappy matter with Mr. Merriman-

[1:45] Charlotte Cushman: Do not speak that vile old man's name in my presence.

[1:48] Sallie Mercer: He's your husband.

[1:49] Charlotte Cushman: Not any longer. He made certain of that after he refused to die as promised, abandoning me with his son to raise, and without the comforts I was due.

[1:58] Charlotte Cushman: The shame is nearly as terrible as never having married at all.

[2:01] Sallie Mercer: Suitors are what got you into this mess and your sister is what's gotten you out of it.

[2:06] Sallie Mercer: You might show a bit more gratitude.

[2:09] Charlotte Cushman: Ah, yes. Gratitude.

[2:11] Charlotte Cushman: I must always be grateful to dear Charlotte for saving our fatherless family from disaster and dragging me on stage to act in her shadow.

[2:20] Charlotte Cushman: I can never for a moment forget the debt I owe her.

[2:23] Charlotte Cushman: All that gratitude is stifling.

[2:25] Sallie Mercer: She cares for you.

[2:27] Charlotte Cushman: Mother and I were quite cared for by her money.

[2:30] Charlotte Cushman: She needn't have carted me off to London to spend hours a day in a dark theater.

[2:34] Sallie Mercer: Well, you're here now, aren't you?

[2:36] Sallie Mercer: Boston will still be there when the play has ended and you'll be returning quite a bit richer.

[2:41] Charlotte Cushman: I'd much rather marry into riches.

[2:43] Charlotte Cushman: Earning one's own is so sordid.

[2:46] Sallie Mercer: Some of us feel lucky to be able to earn money for our work at all.

[2:50] Charlotte Cushman: Oh, for heaven's sake, Sallie, you were born a free woman.

[2:53] Sallie Mercer: And so were you.

[2:55] Sallie Mercer: And you freely married a man who gave you a child, freely accepted Miss Charlotte's offer to bring you forward in New York, freely accepted her money, and freely agreed to join her in London and to play Juliet, a role any actress would kill for.

[3:12] Sallie Mercer: So get dressed and meet her in the theater in five minutes.

[3:17] Charlotte Cushman: Aren't you supposed to help me dress?

[3:19] Sallie Mercer: I'm Charlotte's dresser.

[3:21] Sallie Mercer: Perhaps you'll have your own one day.

[3:23] Sallie Mercer: Until then, you'll have to manage.

[3:28] Charlotte Cushman: I never...

[3:29] Sallie Mercer: Huh?

[3:37] Sallie Mercer: Come to London, Susan.

[3:39] Sallie Mercer: Get dressed, Susan.

[3:41] Sallie Mercer: Play Juliet, Susan.

[3:43] Sallie Mercer: A role any actress would kill for.

[3:55] Charlotte Cushman: Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou?

[3:59] Unknown speaker: Miss Cushman is indisposed and will have to postpone the rehearsal for a few hours.

[4:03] Sallie Mercer: You must be joking.

[4:05] Unknown speaker: She'll send for you at the apartment when she's ready.

[4:07] Sallie Mercer: I'm not a parcel to be picked up whenever she likes.

[4:10] Unknown speaker: No, Miss, you're an actress. Perhaps you better get used to it.

[4:28] Unknown speaker: I'm not sure I understand your concerns.

[4:30] Unknown speaker: Well, um, you see, Miss Cushman, the play is due to open in just over a week.

[4:37] Charlotte Cushman: I'm aware of that.

[4:39] Unknown speaker: And of course we're honored to have you play Romeo here at the Haymarket. I mean, you received such reviews for the role in America, and your Fazio here in London was... Well, the Herald called you the greatest of actresses, and...

[4:51] Charlotte Cushman: I've read my notices, Mr. Webster.

[4:53] Unknown speaker: The problem?

[4:55] Unknown speaker: It's your sister.

[4:56] Charlotte Cushman: What about her?

[4:58] Unknown speaker: Well, I can't help but notice that... Well, she doesn't quite seem...

[5:01] Unknown speaker: She hasn't... I'm afraid she isn't...

[5:08] Charlotte Cushman: I hope you'll finish at least one sentence before this conversation is ended.

[5:12] Unknown speaker: She hasn't memorized any of her lines.

[5:14] Charlotte Cushman: And?

[5:15] Unknown speaker: And she's playing Juliet.

[5:17] Charlotte Cushman: I'll never get used to the English inclination to say everything but what one really means.

[5:22] Unknown speaker: I'm so sorry, Miss Cushman. I don't mean to be impertinent or to waste your time. It's just...

[5:30] Unknown speaker: I'm concerned that Miss Cushman, that is, the other Miss Cushman, that your sister may not be quite ready to perform by the time we open the play.

[5:39] Charlotte Cushman: And what do you suggest we do?

[5:41] Unknown speaker: Perhaps, uh, perhaps another actress might...

[5:45] Unknown speaker: Is there someone else who could, um...

[5:48] Charlotte Cushman: What am I, Mr. Webster?

[5:50] Unknown speaker: What? Um, you're the most famous actress in America.

[5:54] Charlotte Cushman: I'm the most famous woman in the world.

[5:57] Unknown speaker: Yes, yes, yes, quite right. Do you know what people did the last time I went back to Boston?

[6:02] Unknown speaker: I...

[6:03] Charlotte Cushman: They threw me a parade.

[6:05] Charlotte Cushman: They pasted up bills that said, Welcome home, Charlotte.

[6:08] Charlotte Cushman: The papers called it Cushmania.

[6:10] Unknown speaker: Miss Cushman...

[6:11] Charlotte Cushman: I'm a star, Mr. Webster. And I can enact Romeo wherever I please.

[6:16] Charlotte Cushman: Shall I go home to Boston? Or perhaps a revival in New York? Paris is lovely this time of year.

[6:21] Unknown speaker: Miss Cushman...

[6:22] Unknown speaker: I'm not sure you realize what a privilege it is to host the Cushman sisters for this engagement.

[6:27] Unknown speaker: Sisters playing the greatest lovers of the literary canon. Women enacting passionate love as only two women can.

[6:35] Unknown speaker: And the most famous woman in the world with top billing? We'll draw full houses no matter which theater we play in.

[6:42] Unknown speaker: If you would prefer that we fill those houses elsewhere...

[6:45] Charlotte Cushman: No, no, you're quite right. Please forgive me.

[6:48] Charlotte Cushman: Susan will perform next week.

[6:51] Charlotte Cushman: I'll have no other Juliet.

[6:53] Unknown speaker: Of course.

[6:54] Unknown speaker: Until then, you will kindly stay out of the rehearsal hall and let us work.

[6:57] Unknown speaker: Yes.

[7:01] Unknown speaker: Anything else?

[7:02] Unknown speaker: No.

[7:03] Unknown speaker: No, I...

[7:05] Unknown speaker: Right.

[7:07] Unknown speaker: Well...

[7:13] Charlotte Cushman: I thought he'd never leave.

[7:18] Sallie Mercer: That's enough, pet.

[7:20] Charlotte Cushman: I will eventually have to rehearse at this rehearsal.

[7:23] Charlotte Cushman: My sister's been waiting.

[7:25] Sallie Mercer: Just a little more time, please.

[7:27] Sallie Mercer: You promised you'd give me acting lessons.

[7:30] Charlotte Cushman: But instead you've had me hiding under your chaise lounge.

[7:33] Sallie Mercer: Oh, yes, of course. Acting lessons, but not today. I have to focus on opening the play next week.

[7:39] Sallie Mercer: I still can't believe I'm in Charlotte Cushman's dressing room.

[7:43] Charlotte Cushman: Neither can I.

[7:46] Sallie Mercer: Can you please do Hamlet for me just one more time?

[7:50] Charlotte Cushman: No, I couldn't.

[7:52] Sallie Mercer: Oh, please.

[7:53] Sallie Mercer: Eleonora.

[7:54] Charlotte Cushman: You know what it does to me to hear you speak those words.

[7:57] Sallie Mercer: All right, all right, pet. But you must leave afterwards or else I'll get no work done all day.

[8:02] Charlotte Cushman: And there will be no Romeo next week.

[8:04] Sallie Mercer: You do really want to see me play Romeo, don't you?

[8:07] Charlotte Cushman: Oh, more than anything, Charlotte.

[8:09] Sallie Mercer: But first, Hamlet. Please.

[8:16] Charlotte Cushman: To be or not to be.

[8:19] Charlotte Cushman: That is the question.

[8:21] Charlotte Cushman: Whether it is nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them.

[8:36] Charlotte Cushman: To die. To sleep. No more.

[8:41] Charlotte Cushman: And by a sleep to say we end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to.

[8:51] Charlotte Cushman: 'Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished.

[8:56] Charlotte Cushman: To die. To sleep. To sleep perchance to dream.

[9:02] Charlotte Cushman: Ay, there's the rub.

[9:06] Charlotte Cushman: In that sleep of death what dreams may come.

[9:11] Sallie Mercer: Well, I can barely stand it.

[9:16] Sallie Mercer: I still remember the first time I saw you play Hamlet.

[9:19] Sallie Mercer: I was only fourteen.

[9:20] Charlotte Cushman: Oh, please don't say that.

[9:22] Charlotte Cushman: It makes me feel grotesquely old.

[9:24] Sallie Mercer: And I thought, she is a finer man than any real man I've ever met.

[9:28] Charlotte Cushman: Good thing. I've always been only a passable woman.

[9:29] Sallie Mercer: Oh, stop. You're beautiful.

[9:35] Charlotte Cushman: I am very many things, Eleonora dear, but beautiful is not one of them.

[9:40] Charlotte Cushman: Now, hurry along. You promised you wouldn't distract me any longer.

[9:44] Sallie Mercer: Well, handsome then.

[9:45] Charlotte Cushman: All right, I'll go. Don't forget to lead through the back door.

[9:49] Sallie Mercer: Charlotte?

[9:50] Charlotte Cushman: Yes, pet?

[9:51] Sallie Mercer: You didn't mean that thing you said to Mr. Webster, did you?

[9:55] Charlotte Cushman: What thing was that?

[9:56] Sallie Mercer: The thing about Susan being the only Juliet you'd play with.

[9:59] Sallie Mercer: Because you told me, you promised, that when you left London to tour the provinces that I would be your Juliet.

[10:05] Charlotte Cushman: You do remember?

[10:07] Charlotte Cushman: Yes. Yes. Of course I do.

[10:10] Charlotte Cushman: That was just a little bluster to get the old fool to stay out of my way.

[10:14] Sallie Mercer: You have so much to learn about the theater business, pet.

[10:17] Charlotte Cushman: How fortunate I am to have such a formidable teacher.

[10:24] Sallie Mercer: Out the back.

[10:29] Sallie Mercer: Miss Cushman?

[10:30] Sallie Mercer: Send for my sister now, Sallie.

[10:32] Sallie Mercer: Miss Hayes is here.

[10:33] Charlotte Cushman: Here?

[10:34] Sallie Mercer: But she was to be in Paris through the end of the month.

[10:36] Charlotte Cushman: I take it you're seeing visitors while she's gone?

[10:39] Sallie Mercer: Where is she? Is she dressed at least?

[10:42] Sallie Mercer: Not helpful.

[10:43] Charlotte Cushman: It wasn't meant to be.

[10:45] Sallie Mercer: Shall I send her in?

[10:46] Charlotte Cushman: Of course. Tell her I'm ecstatic to see her.

[10:52] Charlotte Cushman: He that hath the stirrage of my course, direct my sail.

[10:56] Sallie Mercer: Shit.

[10:58] Charlotte Cushman: My darling, I have missed you so terribly.

[11:01] Matilda Hays: Matilda!

[11:02] Charlotte Cushman: My love, what brings you back to London? And so soon?

[11:05] Matilda Hays: Oh, well, I was sitting there in this little flat, poring over those George Sand texts, and I should have been thrilled.

[11:14] Matilda Hays: It was Paris, and the English Ladies' Journal was paying for everything, and I was working on translating these fantastic writings.

[11:23] Matilda Hays: But I was just miserable because I wasn't with you.

[11:28] Matilda Hays: And I thought, how can I possibly miss Charlotte playing Romeo in London?

[11:34] Matilda Hays: I can't. And so here I am.

[11:37] Charlotte Cushman: But your work on the Sand Manuscripts?

[11:41] Matilda Hays: I can translate right here. The estate let me travel with the texts.

[11:46] Matilda Hays: Isn't that wonderful? Now I can be right beside you all the time.

[11:49] Charlotte Cushman: Oh, Max, how wonderful.

[11:52] Charlotte Cushman: I got your letters.

[11:54] Matilda Hays: Oh, Charlotte, they were so beautiful.

[11:59] Matilda Hays: My dearest friend, I long for you every moment since we parted.

[12:07] Charlotte Cushman: I see your face floating before me as I fall asleep.

[12:12] Matilda Hays: You memorize them?

[12:13] Charlotte Cushman: I keep them with me always.

[12:16] Charlotte Cushman: They're part of the reason I had to return.

[12:20] Matilda Hays: Some of them were quite descriptive.

[12:23] Charlotte Cushman: Oh?

[12:24] Matilda Hays: I'm not the only one who has a way with words.

[12:29] Charlotte Cushman: Oh, I have missed you, Max. Truly.

[12:34] Charlotte Cushman: Now, I must take you to lunch at once.

[12:37] Matilda Hays: Darling, I can't.

[12:39] Charlotte Cushman: But surely you must be due a break by now.

[12:42] Matilda Hays: We haven't started yet.

[12:44] Charlotte Cushman: You haven't?

[12:45] Matilda Hays: But what have you been doing all day?

[12:48] Charlotte Cushman: There have been some struggles with Susan.

[12:51] Matilda Hays: Oh, for goodness sake, why don't you send your spoiled sister home to mummy and hire a real actress?

[12:59] Charlotte Cushman: Like you?

[13:00] Matilda Hays: What?

[13:01] Matilda Hays: That is not what I meant.

[13:04] Matilda Hays: You know I don't do that anymore. I'm much too quiet and too plain.

[13:10] Charlotte Cushman: And you've already met me.

[13:12] Matilda Hays: Exactly. It was our destiny to meet, and because of my horrible ill-fated foray on the stage, we have.

[13:21] Matilda Hays: And now I can spend my time supporting your genius.

[13:24] Charlotte Cushman: Susan will be fine.

[13:26] Charlotte Cushman: It's important that she be my Juliet.

[13:28] Charlotte Cushman: Sisterly love is pure. It won't stop any talk.

[13:32] Matilda Hays: There's been talk?

[13:34] Charlotte Cushman: Just the usual rumblings.

[13:35] Charlotte Cushman: That I'm somehow too real of a man. My stage love for women too convincing.

[13:40] Matilda Hays: Oh, how foolish.

[13:43] Matilda Hays: Would these gossips prefer a bad actress?

[13:46] Charlotte Cushman: It's Forrest, I'm certain of it. He arrived in town from New Orleans, and then the whispers began.

[13:51] Charlotte: I despise that pompous, loathsome man.

[13:55] Matilda: And he despises me.

[13:57] Charlotte: Ever since we played together in New York, I received glowing notices and he was savaged in the press.

[14:02] Matilda: Milk toast, they called him, wasn't it?

[14:04] Charlotte: But it was no fault of mine.

[14:05] Matilda: Well...

[14:06] Charlotte: Well, what?

[14:08] Matilda: Well, you did decide to play Hamlet just after his opened.

[14:12] Charlotte: Every great tragedian must try their hand at Hamlet.

[14:15] Matilda: Booth played him at the same time as both of us.

[14:17] Charlotte: And your last Romeo played at the same time as his as well?

[14:21] Matilda: I had no idea.

[14:23] Charlotte: And last time you were both in London, he switched from Brutus to Antony and you did too.

[14:29] Matilda: And I outshone and outsold him every time.

[14:34] Charlotte: Alright, so he has good reason to hate me.

[14:36] Matilda: But I won't let him destroy my reputation here in London with petty rumors.

[14:40] Charlotte: That's why I need Susan.

[14:42] Matilda: To remind my audience that I'm a paragon of virtue.

[14:45] Charlotte: And so you are.

[14:47] Matilda: Chaste and pure as the driven snow.

[14:50] Charlotte: No one will ever see me with any man.

[14:52] Matilda: They'll continue to assume my incorruptible maidenhood.

[14:55] Charlotte: And so our friendship is beyond reproach.

[14:58] Matilda: So it is.

[15:01] Charlotte: Now, my darling, you must be off. If I'm to get any work done at all today, I can't have you here distracting me.

[15:06] Matilda: Of course. I'll see you tonight.

[15:09] Charlotte: I'm so excited to be here with you again and see your Romeo at last.

[15:13] Matilda: I'm even excited to meet your coddled little sister.

[15:15] Charlotte: Matilda.

[15:16] Matilda: Charlotte.

[15:17] Charlotte: We've discussed this. It wouldn't be wise for you two to meet.

[15:21] Matilda: You're ashamed of me.

[15:22] Charlotte: No, I'm not.

[15:23] Matilda: Max, believe me. It's only out of love for you that I want to keep you apart.

[15:28] Charlotte: But I can be discreet.

[15:29] Matilda: It's not a question of your discretion.

[15:31] Charlotte: No, it's a question of your pride.

[15:34] Matilda: Here we go.

[15:35] Charlotte: You're a tyrant. You control your mother and your sister with your money, your managers and finances with your fame, and everyone else with your sheer charlataness.

[15:44] Matilda: And I'm a fool to imagine that I might be any different.

[15:47] Charlotte: Please, I told you I need to work. Let's not fight.

[15:50] Matilda: You're right. And you know, I have to work too. I am terribly behind on my writing for the journal, and I only have so much time before I have to return all the sand manuscripts to the estate.

[16:01] Charlotte: So perhaps it would be best if I stayed at my own flat this week after all.

[16:05] Matilda: Dearest. Good luck with your rehearsals.

[16:07] Charlotte: And with Susan.

[16:08] Matilda: Max.

[16:09] Charlotte: Now stay out of your way.

[16:10] Matilda: Sorry to have bothered you.

[16:12] Charlotte: Please, don't leave this way.

[16:14] Matilda: What you mean is, please leave, but don't make a fuss.

[16:19] Charlotte: Alright. I'll leave quietly. Just pretend I was never here.

[16:25] Matilda: Just pretend I'm still in Paris.

[16:34] Charlotte: Is love a tender thing? It is too rough. Too rude. Too boisterous. It pricks like a thorn.

[16:43] Matilda: Ain't it the truth?

[16:46] Sally: Your sister's ready to rehearse, Miss Cushman.

[16:48] Charlotte: Is she really?

[16:50] Sally: Well, she's here.

[16:51] Charlotte: That sounds more like it. Let's get you changed. Once more into the breeches.

[16:57] Sally: Arms up.

[17:00] Charlotte: You want my opinion.

[17:01] Sally: Would it stop you if I said no?

[17:03] Charlotte: Turn.

[17:05] Sally: Mr. Webster wasn't wrong about Susan. Aside from the lines, she seems to loathe every moment of the play.

[17:12] Charlotte: Last night she tried to hurl herself from the balcony.

[17:15] Sally: Thank goodness for the nurse's quick reflexes.

[17:18] Charlotte: The foot.

[17:22] Sally: Now right.

[17:26] Charlotte: There I am. Every inch of Romeo.

[17:29] Sally: Susan, on the other hand. Surely she can be replaced, even at this late hour.

[17:36] Charlotte: I pay you a good salary, don't I, Sally?

[17:38] Sally: Better than anyone else in my position.

[17:41] Charlotte: Not nearly what I deserve.

[17:43] Sally: And what do you do with that salary, besides buy books?

[17:46] Charlotte: I send it back home to my mother and brothers in Philadelphia.

[17:50] Sally: And so have I, for my mother and sister. For nearly half my life, I've sent them money every month, kept them out of the poorhouse. I've been the man of my mother's house since I was 16, and I've never gotten a word of thanks from either of them. Nor a word of congratulations for my success. They don't see what the world sees. Only a strange and unlovely person with an open checkbook.

[18:11] Charlotte: So why bring her here?

[18:13] Sally: I need to unyoke myself from both of them. I'll endure my sister for the run of Romeo, so that I'll never have to again.

[18:21] Charlotte: I don't follow.

[18:23] Sally: Once I've made her a star, she can go her own way. I'll let her pay the bills for a while.

[18:28] Charlotte: And you think Juliet will make her a star?

[18:31] Sally: If she finally relents and allows us to take her in hand the next seven days, I do.

[18:37] Charlotte: Well then, we'd better get to work.

[18:41] Charlotte: If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine, the gentle sin is this. My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.

[19:08] Matilda: Good pilgrim, you do wrong.

[19:12] Charlotte: You do wrong your hand too much. Which mannerly devotion, which mannerly devotion shows in this?

[19:22] Matilda: For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch, and palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss.

[19:28] Charlotte: Have not saints lips and holy palmers too?

[19:33] Matilda: Um, yes.

[19:36] Charlotte: Oh then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do. They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.

[19:46] Matilda: I forget.

[19:48] Charlotte: Then ask Sally for a line.

[19:49] Matilda: No, I forget all of it. Not only the words, where I'm supposed to stand, the dancing, how I'm supposed to hold my arms.

[19:56] Charlotte: Susan, you can do this. You haven't forgotten.

[19:59] Matilda: I think I need a break.

[20:00] Charlotte: We've only been rehearsing for a quarter of an hour.

[20:02] Matilda: Well, that's certainly not my fault. I've been waiting all day.

[20:05] Charlotte: Then why weren't you practicing your lines?

[20:07] Matilda: Because I'm bored, Sally.

[20:09] Charlotte: Bored? You're rehearsing for one of the greatest plays in the English language, in one of the greatest cities in the world, opposite the biggest star in the world.

[20:17] Matilda: Ha!

[20:18] Charlotte: Whatever you think of me, opposite a very good actress. The situation you are in is the opposite of boring.

[20:25] Matilda: I haven't been to a single party, or even a proper dinner with anyone interesting since we arrived here.

[20:30] Charlotte: It's only been you, Ned, and this damn play.

[20:34] Matilda: I've invited you to dine with my friends.

[20:36] Charlotte: Eating soup with old spinsters and no men is not my idea of a party.

[20:40] Matilda: You've never had the taste for good society, or the looks.

[20:43] Charlotte: My friends are some of the greatest writers and artists in Europe.

[20:47] Matilda: The jolly bachelors?

[20:49] Charlotte: Pretentious, homely ladies with no husbands or children or place in good society.

[20:55] Matilda: I'm sorry that you're too frivolous and empty-headed to appreciate great minds, and would rather surround yourself with preening dandies.

[21:02] Charlotte: I just want to go home.

[21:04] Matilda: I can't stand it here. I can't stand the damp and the fog, and I can't stand this dusty old theater, and I can't stand this interminable play, and I can't stand you!

[21:14] Charlotte: Let's take five.

[21:16] Matilda: Susan, what's happened? You haven't always hated the stage this much. I thought you'd love playing Juliet.

[21:22] Charlotte: Yes. With a real Romeo, I would.

[21:25] Matilda: A real Romeo?

[21:26] Charlotte: Yes.

[21:27] Matilda: Susie, you do understand that acting is pretending, don't you?

[21:32] Charlotte: I mean a real man.

[21:34] Matilda: Ah, yes, it's always about that for you, isn't it? Someone handsome, someone I could feel something for.

[21:40] Charlotte: You mean someone you could flirt with.

[21:42] Matilda: Just because you're hopelessly frigid, it doesn't mean I have to be.

[21:45] Charlotte: Should I get some coffee?

[21:46] Matilda: No.

[21:47] Charlotte: Yes. If I'm to pretend to fall in love, I want it to be with a man.

[21:51] Matilda: Like that insufferable Edwin Forrest, you mean?

[21:54] Charlotte: Well, yes, maybe. Or that blowhard who's more interested in his own reflection in the mirror?

[21:59] Matilda: When little girls dream of being Juliet, they don't dream of their sister standing under the balcony!

[22:04] Charlotte: If I were a real man, we wouldn't have booked this engagement at all.

[22:08] Matilda: If I were a real man, propriety would demand we barely even touch on stage, just gesture in each other's general direction.

[22:15] Charlotte: If I were a real man, this would be like every other dull, insipid, sexless Romeo and Juliet anyone has ever seen.

[22:24] Matilda: Susan, don't you see? This will be more like your fantasies than it ever could be with a man playing Romeo.

[22:30] Charlotte: That's why people are clamoring to see you, because they know that, as sisters, you will be allowed to get closer to the truth of love than any other Romeo and Juliet they've ever seen.

[22:40] Matilda: You need to trust me. You can be great. I know you can be great. Let me make you great.

[22:48] Charlotte: Why?

[22:49] Matilda: What?

[22:50] Charlotte: Why do you care? Why do you want me to be great?

[22:54] Matilda: Because you're my sister.

[22:55] Charlotte: Yes, your motivations are always so pure. Like the time you brought me to the opening of that opera.

[23:01] Matilda: I was only eleven, and you still had your singing voice.

[23:04] Charlotte: Figaro, this again?

[23:06] Matilda: I was so excited. I had a new dress, and I was going to meet all the important people you'd been spending time with.

[23:12] Charlotte: I was ready. I wasn't even seventeen years old. You can't possibly blame me for-

[23:16] Matilda: And you dragged me around the party telling the same sad story over and over. How father had lost all our money and came home with nothing but stale bread for us to chew on, and then stopped coming home altogether. How we'd moved six times, each place more squalid than the last. How mother had opened that pathetic boarding house, and I was spending my days washing filthy linens and cleaning toilets.

[23:37] Charlotte: It was all true.

[23:38] Matilda: You humiliated me! I wasn't a guest, I was a prop! Charlotte's pitiable little sister, there to illustrate your maudlin tale of woe.

[23:47] Charlotte: And there you were, starring in an opera out of the goodness of your heart. Not because you wanted applause, or to be looked at.

[23:54] Matilda: No, being in the spotlight was a sacrifice you were making for the silly little girl in the stupid fancy dress!

[24:00] Charlotte: I bought you that dress.

[24:02] Matilda: You're not as good an actress as you think, Charlotte. You may have everyone else fooled, but every time you do something generous for someone else, it's always really for you.

[24:12] Charlotte: I'd respect you much more if you'd admit it.

[24:14] Matilda: For Ned, then.

[24:16] Charlotte: Fine, be that way. Keep up the good sister charade. I'll do your show.

[24:22] Matilda: Fantastic. Let's get back to it, then.

[24:24] Charlotte: I may even be great. But when this is over, so are we, Charlotte.

[24:28] Matilda: Another grand proclamation? I've heard this one before.

[24:31] Charlotte: We're wasting valuable time.

[24:33] Matilda: I mean it!

[24:34] Charlotte: But you always come crawling back for another handout. And you love it!

[24:37] Matilda: Enough! You're no better than squabbling schoolgirls!

[24:41] Charlotte: I'll tell you what, Susie, I would love nothing more than to be done. I have a good life here in Europe. I have friends. People are more interesting and open-minded than all the Puritans left 300 years ago. The only thing bringing me back to Boston is my obligation to the three of you, which I'm frankly just as exhausted by as you are.

[24:59] Matilda: Just say the word, and you'll never see me again. But I swear to God, if you don't start actually trying to play Juliet, show up to rehearsal on time, pretend you like me, and memorize your goddamn lines, I will make sure you are never rid of me, and that your social life consists of me, Sally, your 8-year-old, and a dozen more dusty old theaters.

[25:22] Charlotte: You want me out of your life? Do your job!

[25:27] Sally: Saints do not move.

[25:31] Charlotte: Saints do not move, though grant for prayer's sake.

[25:35] Sally: Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take.

[25:41] Charlotte: Be sure to let me kiss you here.

[25:43] Matilda: No thanks.

[25:44] Charlotte: Thus from my lips, by yours, my sin is purged.

[25:49] Matilda: Then have my lips the sin that they have took.

[25:52] Charlotte: Stop it!

[25:53] Matilda: Sin from thy lips, O trespass, sweetly urged, give me my sin again.

[26:04] Charlotte: You kiss by the book.

[26:06] Sally: Charlotte, tell Miss Cushman that I'm going back home to see Ned, to ice my knuckles, and to memorize my goddamn lines.

[26:17] Matilda: Huh.

[26:18] Sally: She's good.

[26:19] Matilda: Hell of a right hook, too.

[26:41] Charlotte McBurney as Susan Cushman.

[26:44] Paris Pringle as Sally Mercer.

[26:46] Debora Wilde as Eleonora.

[26:48] Keziah Burrows as Matilda Hayes.

[26:51] Neil Heligers as Benjamin Webster.

[26:53] This program is funded in part by the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

[26:57] We'd also like to give our deepest thanks to all of those who supported our Kickstarter campaign to help get this production made.

[27:08] If you would like to hear more audio dramas like this one, please visit gatherbytheghostlight.com.