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[0:02] Gather by the Ghost Light presents Romeo and her sister, starring Anna Demetriou and Charlotte McBurney, written by Jillian Blevins.

[0:12] Anna Demetriou: For a more immersive listening experience, please enjoy the show with headphones.

[0:23] Charlotte McBurney: Just a few hours until the train.

[0:32] Anna Demetriou: Have you?

[0:35] Charlotte McBurney: Well, we can always leave them in the dressing room.

[0:39] Anna Demetriou: Do you have a book for the ride?

[0:41] Charlotte McBurney: I was thinking of rereading Candide. Just to get in the French frame of mind.

[0:48] Anna Demetriou: She may still come back, Miss. There's time.

[0:52] Charlotte McBurney: You know, when I first became an actress, she came to see me in Albany.

[0:57] Anna Demetriou: That was my first Romeo. I was uh 19. God, was I ever so young?

[1:04] Charlotte McBurney: And John Nickinson, remember him? The Canadian? He named his daughter after you. He was my friar Lawrence manager at the time.

[1:13] Anna Demetriou: He led me on stage at the end of the first performance, and he placed a wreath of flowers over my head, like he was crowning me as an heir to the American stage.

[1:21] Charlotte McBurney: And Susan was there in the front row, gazing up at me with such admiration. This 13-year-old girl who had never understood me. And I thought this is how it feels to be seen. This is how I will be happy.

[1:37] Anna Demetriou: It's all gone now. The stage, the poetry, the sense of purpose. My laurel crown ripped away and set ablaze by Edwin Forrest. My sister by his side, warming her hands at the fire.

[1:52] Charlotte McBurney: Yes, it's all very tragic and terribly unfair, and you're the most ill-treated woman who's ever lived.

[2:00] Anna Demetriou: Don't mock me.

[2:01] Charlotte McBurney: You can mope forever, or you can move forward. And in this case, forward is a train to Paris, leaving in two hours from Victoria Station. And I promise you, I will not listen to you monologize for the entire ride.

[2:15] Anna Demetriou: You prefer Voltaire to your dearest friend?

[2:18] Charlotte McBurney: No contest.

[2:19] Anna Demetriou: Fair enough. What was that? Who's there?

[2:24] Neil Hellegers: Mr. Webster.

[2:25] Anna Demetriou: Are you all right?

[2:26] Neil Hellegers: If I never see another drop of gin, it will be too soon.

[2:31] Anna Demetriou: Here. Up you go.

[2:33] Neil Hellegers: He's practically pickled.

[2:35] Anna Demetriou: Occupational hazard of the manager's job.

[2:39] Neil Hellegers: Did I say anything last night? I tend to get a touch too direct when I've had some drink.

[2:50] Charlotte McBurney: Not a thing, Mr. Webster. You remained the perfect gentleman.

[2:54] Neil Hellegers: Well, that's a relief. I hate to think that I compounded the indignity of your ordeal.

[3:01] Anna Demetriou: I feel as if I've forgotten something.

[3:04] Neil Hellegers: Here are the keys to the theater, sir.

[3:07] Anna Demetriou: Oh, no, not that.

[3:08] Neil Hellegers: And the flat. There was something else.

[3:15] Anna Demetriou: Please. Excuse me, ladies. I must. I'll be back.

[3:21] Charlotte McBurney: If he doesn't make it, you're cleaning up after him.

[3:24] Neil Hellegers: If that's what 20 more years in the theater does to you, perhaps I'm getting off easy.

[3:29] Anna Demetriou: We were supposed to have a packed house here in just a few hours. Now look at it. Is there anything sadder than an empty theater?

[3:35] Charlotte McBurney: Only me. Terribly sad and humbled and filled with regret.

[3:43] Neil Hellegers: Miss. Give us the room, please, Sally.

[3:45] Paris Pringle: Yes, Miss Cushman. I'll be close by. If anyone needs me.

[3:51] Neil Hellegers: Quite the article you wrote.

[3:53] Charlotte McBurney: It was horrible. What I did. Unforgivable.

[3:59] Neil Hellegers: Yes. But it was also horrible what you did.

[4:03] Charlotte McBurney: I was hurt. Jealous. Wretched. If you think that my dalliance, or whatever you want to call it, is somehow equal to the wreckage that you've caused.

[4:15] Neil Hellegers: I am trying to apologize. I'm sorry. I am sorry. I was a vengeful, short-sighted fool.

[4:24] Charlotte McBurney: Doesn't matter now.

[4:25] Neil Hellegers: But of course it matters.

[4:27] Charlotte McBurney: I love you. I'm leaving London for good because I've been exposed.

[4:31] Neil Hellegers: Exposed by your hit piece.

[4:34] Charlotte McBurney: No, I wrote a retraction in the hopes that it might help. Dismissed it all as evening wheezes from an envious rival.

[4:42] Neil Hellegers: But what?

[4:46] Charlotte McBurney: Edwin Forrest still has the letters.

[4:50] Neil Hellegers: Our letters.

[4:52] Charlotte McBurney: Ah. And he's printing them tonight. The final nail in my coffin.

[4:56] Neil Hellegers: Oh, Charlotte. I tried to get them back. I really did, but I couldn't, and now it's all ruined.

[5:04] Charlotte McBurney: You know, Max. I think I really did love you. I do. But you could never have loved me.

[5:14] Neil Hellegers: What do you mean? Of course I love you.

[5:15] Charlotte McBurney: I don't think that I let you. And that's my fault.

[5:21] Neil Hellegers: No. Let me come with you wherever you're going. I we can we can make a new life together.

[5:28] Charlotte McBurney: Matilda. Look at me. I am on my knees, begging you for forgiveness, please.

[5:34] Neil Hellegers: You can't trust me, and I can't trust you. What's left to salvage? What are you even fighting for?

[5:42] Paris Pringle: Sorry to interrupt, but I think this might be important.

[5:46] Charlotte McBurney: What?

[5:47] Paris Pringle: Early this morning, I awoke briefly to uh settle my stomach. I ran into your sister.

[5:54] Charlotte McBurney: And what did the petticoat Judas have to say?

[6:00] Paris Pringle: I was in quite a rush to you know. So she just gave me this bouquet of flowers, and insisted that I give it to you the moment I saw you.

[6:12] Charlotte McBurney: But in my state, I'm afraid I left it in the water closet. So sorry, miss.

[6:19] Anna Demetriou: Flowers. From Susan.

[6:23] Charlotte McBurney: Strange.

[6:24] Anna Demetriou: Not if you look closely. There's fennel. For flattery. Snapdragon for deception?

[6:32] Charlotte McBurney: Yes. And violence. For loyalty. Devotion. Now do you see?

[6:38] Anna Demetriou: See what?

[6:39] Charlotte McBurney: She didn't leave me. Whatever she's doing with Forrest is a trick. A ruse to get close to him. But what's this last one?

[6:47] Anna Demetriou: It's a black-eyed Susan.

[6:50] Charlotte McBurney: And what does that mean?

[6:52] Anna Demetriou: Justice.

[6:53] Charlotte McBurney: Susie! I believe these are yours.

[6:56] Anna Demetriou: Susan, I I'm so how did you do it? How did you get the letters?

[7:01] Charlotte McBurney: It turns out that both Cushmans are rather convincing actresses. And I do have a bit of practice at showing men what they want to see.

[7:09] Anna Demetriou: You didn't.

[7:10] Charlotte McBurney: No! No! No! I just let him think that we might. And then I hit him over the head with a vase on his dressing table.

[7:18] Anna Demetriou: Solid thing.

[7:21] Neil Hellegers: Well, I am sorry. For my facing Miss Cushman's gift and for.

[7:30] Charlotte McBurney: I'm wondering if. Perhaps we might. Do you think it might be worth re-erecting the set, Mr. Webster?

[7:38] Neil Hellegers: I do quite. I suspect that Mrs. Hays' retraction might have done the trick. And Miss Cushman's audience may be less fickle than I'd feared.

[7:50] Charlotte McBurney: But what if they don't come?

[7:52] Neil Hellegers: And what if they do? It's worth a go at least. Faith, Miss Cushman. We must have faith to survive this mad business.

[8:00] Paris Pringle: Miss Mercer, unpack the costumes.

[8:03] Neil Hellegers: I'll gather some stage hands to get the set back up. We only have an hour or so.

[8:08] Charlotte McBurney: You can you use a hammer?

[8:11] Neil Hellegers: I uh I can do whatever you need. For as long as you want me to.

[8:18] Charlotte McBurney: I am but a penitent.

[8:20] Anna Demetriou: Um, well, that won't be necessary. Perhaps just some like carpentry.

[8:26] Charlotte McBurney: Charlotte?

[8:27] Anna Demetriou: On your way, Miss Hayes. This way.

[8:31] Charlotte McBurney: Susan, I you don't have to say it. You saved me. You did the debt I owe you.

[8:38] Anna Demetriou: Come on, we shouldn't leave all this to Mr. Webster and Miss Mercer, don't you think?

[8:43] Charlotte McBurney: About what I said.

[8:47] Anna Demetriou: Don't. Please.

[8:51] Charlotte McBurney: This drape is heavy. Let me.

[8:55] Anna Demetriou: I I I didn't mean it. When I said that you You know, all my life, I just wanted you to like me.

[9:02] Charlotte McBurney: And all my life I've known that you didn't.

[9:05] Anna Demetriou: Susan. Let me finish.

[9:08] Charlotte McBurney: I remember you watching me play with my dolls, looking at me with your eyebrows knit together. And you said. It must be terribly boring to be a girl.

[9:16] Anna Demetriou: As if you were a different species.

[9:19] Charlotte McBurney: Aren't I? And then later, you smashed them. All my dolls. That's how stupid you found the whole enterprise. And me.

[9:27] Anna Demetriou: That's not the reason.

[9:30] Charlotte McBurney: It's all right, Charlotte.

[9:31] Anna Demetriou: It's not. I wasn't judging you or the dolls. I was just trying to understand.

[9:41] Charlotte McBurney: You girls. I smashed the dolls' heads open so I could see what they were thinking.

[9:53] Charlotte McBurney: Well, better their heads than mine, I guess. God, I still don't get it. Womanhood's never fit me. It's like a pair of shoes that's a size too small. Fancy shoes always do hurt a bit. And it fits you so well, Susan. Like it was made for you. It was easier to act like you were shallow than admit how jealous I was.

[10:18] Anna Demetriou: You jealous of me? Playing opera and Shakespeare is as natural as breathing compared to the role of the docile young lady. And when you play the britches parts, it's easier still. Because as Romeo, I can be something I never can in life.

[10:38] Charlotte McBurney: A man? Something closer to myself. The stage, it's the only place where people actually like what I am.

[10:48] Anna Demetriou: You're an idiot.

[10:50] Charlotte McBurney: Excuse me? After all this, you still think that hiding in life and being who you really are on stage makes sense?

[10:58] Anna Demetriou: To be fair, you just went to extraordinary lengths to help me keep that part of myself in the shadows. Light, shadow, on stage or off. Bridges or skirts. It's all you, Charlotte. And it's all wonderful. My wonderful big sister. And for what it's worth, I don't care a bit that you love ladies. God knows loving men hasn't worked out spectacularly for me.

[11:24] Charlotte McBurney: Did you love Miss Hayes?

[11:26] Anna Demetriou: Matilda? Not wisely. Or well. But why in the world would she publish this horrid gossip? Charlotte Cushman's unnatural loves.

[11:36] Charlotte McBurney: If she's your paramour.

[11:40] Anna Demetriou: Because, as I said, I'm not a good woman. I deserved her scorn. But she's hurt me beyond forgiveness.

[11:51] Charlotte McBurney: Surely you can find some way to reconcile. She seems contrite. Why not call it even?

[11:57] Anna Demetriou: Matilda and I have spent years getting even with one another. But this was a step too far. Retraction or not. Handing over our letters gave Forrest ammunition in ink. He's vile. Pretending to find him charming was the best acting I've ever done in my life. Thank God it was just a one-night engagement.

[12:16] Charlotte McBurney: I still don't understand why he hates you so much.

[12:19] Anna Demetriou: Because I look better in pants.

[12:26] Charlotte McBurney: Where are they?

[12:27] Anna Demetriou: Oh, right on cue, Mr. Forrest. Here we are. Perhaps your vision is still a bit blurred. How's your head?

[12:33] Neil Hellegers: Cushman, foul she devil.

[12:36] Anna Demetriou: Which one?

[12:37] Neil Hellegers: Both of you. Two peas in a pod, aren't you? The unnatural shrew and the duplicitous trumpet.

[12:44] Charlotte McBurney: Ooh, perhaps that should go in our next handbill. It does have a nice ring to it. The English are too stupid to see your foulness or my greatness. This city doesn't deserve me.

[12:56] Anna Demetriou: Good riddance. You can have it.

[12:59] Neil Hellegers: Ah, closing a fellow so soon. I'll reopen in Philadelphia or New York, where they have taste and know a star when they see him, and I'll happily never lay eyes on you, miserable hags again.

[13:12] Charlotte McBurney: It's probably for the best. We're simply two alike to work together.

[13:16] Neil Hellegers: You're even worse than her.

[13:19] Anna Demetriou: Oh, and don't flatter yourself. I never wanted you to begin with. I'd never have lured myself to wed a Dorsey slut with a bastard child.

[13:29] Neil Hellegers: Oh dare you lay your hands on me.

[13:35] Anna Demetriou: Oh you think yourself a man, Cushman. Huh? Do you? Then let's settle this as men. Turn and draw you cunt.

[13:47] Neil Hellegers: Villain. You know not what you do.

[13:50] Anna Demetriou: Susan, my sword.

[13:51] Charlotte McBurney: Charlotte, don't he's impugned your honor for the last time. I'll shut that venom spewing mouth for good. Have at thee, coward.

[14:04] Neil Hellegers: I'll kill you if you don't yield.

[14:07] Anna Demetriou: The swords are foils, Forrest.

[14:09] Neil Hellegers: No matter. I've practiced strangling a woman every night.

[14:14] Anna Demetriou: And I've practiced stabbing swaggering men. We'll need another pair of hands to rehang the trust.

[14:23] Charlotte McBurney: I'll come back. You know, Edwin, given the way you wield a sword, you might rather try your hand at women's parts.

[14:30] Neil Hellegers: I'll have your parts hacked off.

[14:33] Anna Demetriou: Not fighting like that, you want. You surper, look upon thy death.

[14:39] Neil Hellegers: You know what they say. He that dies pays all deaths.

[14:42] Anna Demetriou: Stop this! Enough! Surrender, Cushman, or taste my blade.

[14:47] Neil Hellegers: No metal can bear half the keenness of thy sharp envy.

[14:51] Anna Demetriou: I detest you.

[14:53] Neil Hellegers: And I pity you.

[15:00] Anna Demetriou: Now what? You're disarmed. A helpless little man.

[15:04] Neil Hellegers: Oh, Cushman. They'll all forget you. Once they know who you really are, once they truly understand the depths of your depravity, they'll erase you forever.

[15:18] Anna Demetriou: And only I'll be left. I'd rather be truly great for a moment than remembered forever as a mediocrity.

[15:25] Neil Hellegers: Oh god damn you, Cushman! And God damn your horde, sister! I warned you what would happen if you dared insult my sister again. Didn't you decode my message? Men are so slow to understand these things. And so easily manipulated.

[15:41] Charlotte McBurney: There is a line around the block full of patrons chanting your names, demanding to see Romeo and Juliet.

[15:47] Anna Demetriou: Can it be?

[15:48] Charlotte McBurney: It's true. They're banging down the doors for the Cushman sisters. We're saved!

[15:52] Anna Demetriou: I told you so. Oh, hello, Mr. Forrest. Nice to see you again. Shall we continue our conversation about the dominant six?

[16:01] Neil Hellegers: Oh, I may have a few notions to contribute.

[16:03] Anna Demetriou: Me too. A curse on your production. I'll be revenged on all of you. The English, actresses, women. Oh, the whole pack of you.

[16:19] Charlotte McBurney: I have wanted to do that for a long time. It was glorious. And it certainly expunged a good portion of your debt.

[16:26] Anna Demetriou: Thank God. Tibbolt's gonna have it easy tonight. Ready yourselves, ladies. We don't have long.

[16:35] Charlotte McBurney: Charlotte, I come, Miss Hayes. Let's give the Cushman some time to prepare.

[16:41] Anna Demetriou: Yes. Of course. I'll be watching from the front row.

[16:46] Charlotte McBurney: Honestly, this debt business is silly. You've got to stop thinking in terms of who owes whom. Who's done more kindness and who's done more harm?

[16:57] Anna Demetriou: Don't do it to me. And perhaps not to Miss Hayes. You've become very bossy.

[17:04] Charlotte McBurney: Just feeling confident in my area of expertise.

[17:07] Anna Demetriou: Love? It doesn't involve ledgers or debts.

[17:11] Charlotte McBurney: Mine doesn't. For you. My bounty is as boundless as the sea, Charlotte. My love as deep. The more I give to you, the more I have. For both are infinite.

[17:43] Paris Pringle: A kind of peace this opening awaked. As one the sister star rose ever higher. And tween the two where once a chasm gaped. A bridge of love stands forged in hardship's fire. We'll tomorrow get the rave reviews in. For Charlotte's Romeo and her sister Susan.

[18:04] Paris Pringle: Sally, hurry up the epilogue, will you?

[18:06] Charlotte McBurney: Don't rush me. And that rhyme is terrible.

[18:10] Paris Pringle: I'm almost done, I said. And Sally's fate? I'll dwell in history not. For even as the future rushes hints, extraordinary women are forgot. Adieu.

[18:31] Anna Demetriou: Romeo and her sister is a Gather by the Ghostlight production, produced by Jonathan Cook and Devin McSherry. Written by Jillian Blevins. Directed, edited, and sound designed by Jonathan Cook. This episode features the voice talents of Anna Demetriou as Charlotte Cushman. Charlotte McBurney as Susan Cushman. Paris Pringle as Sally Mercer. Jonathan Cook as Edwin Forrest. Neil Hellegers as Benjamin Webster.

[19:17] Anna Demetriou: If you would like to hear more audio dramas like this one, please visit gatherbytheghostlight.com.