Table Of ContentTHREE ORIGINAL FULL-LENGTH PLAYS ON
- REGIONAL AND RELIGIOUS ASPECTS
OF THE AMERICAN SCENE
WITHIN THESE WALLS
HAYM SALOMON
CALVARIO
VOLUME II
"by
Marcus L. Bach
A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy,
in the Department of Speech, in the Graduate
College of the State University of Iowa
February, 1942
ProQuest Number: 10984104
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H A ™ SALOMON
by-
Marcus Bach
State University of* Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa
CHARACTERS!
HAYM SALOMON, a Jew
RACHEL, his wife
EZEKIEL, their son, a boy of six
CAPTAIN CUNNINGHAM, keeper of the Provost
CAPTAIN DEBUTE, assistant to Cunningham
SAMUEL DEMEZES )
)
OWEN ROSS )
)
JOHN ATKINS ) Prisoners of the Provost
)
ELIAS CORNELIUS )
)
JOHN OWENS )
)
ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL, leader of the Sons of Liberty
JIM LEE }
)
CYRUS LESLIE )
)
JEEVIE VAN DUSEN )
)
BERTHA GOULD ) Citizens of Philadelphia
)
ALVINA SPARKS )
MR. PRANKS )
REBECCA PRANKS j
IRVING LEVY )
)
Mi?. HOLKER )
ROBERT MORRIS, Secretary of Finance
GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, his assistant
ARTHUR LEE, a dyspeptic
JAMES WILSON, a business man
GENERAL ROBERT HOWE
CAPTAIN LANDAIS
GENERAL FRIEDEBICK WILHELM AUGUSTUS VON STEUBEN
CARPENTER, an exchange prisoner
LEADER of mutinous soldiers
ACTS:
ACT I* Scene One* The Provost
Scene Two* Salomon’s office In Philadelphia
ACT II* Scene One* Office of Robert Morris
Scene Two. A room at Salomon's
ACT III Salomon's office
TIME: The American Revolution (1778-83)
ACT I
Scene One
SCENE: August 1 7 7 8 . The curtain rises on a room in the
Provost, a British military prison in New York*
The place speaks of squalor and suffering* The
room is small and cramped. Evening is falling and
throughout the scene the light outside fades Into
dusk and darkness* A narrow barred window permits
the room to be illuminated with the glow of twilight
and shadows. There are two cots or bunks. Upon
one of them JOHN OWENS lies at the point of death*
Other men, all showing evidences of torture and
disease are captive in the room.
As the scene opens we hear the sound of a drumhead
courtmartial. There is a moment of stark silence
among the men while the firing squad outsides does
its work* SAMUEL DEME2ES, a Frenchman of about
twenty, turns pleading and confused eyes to HAYM
SALOMON, who stands stolidly,silent* SALOttfON is
near thirty, sallow, strong in a thoughtful,
deeply-a©arching way. His face shows the strain
of imprisonment and suffering.
DEMEZES
Haym*
(Haym Is silent)
ELIAS CORNELIUS (an old man)
It's war, Samuel Demeases.
ROSS (demented)
Still keeping your diary, Elias? Write that #ohn Banks
died with the roll of drums* That's a privilege*
(He approaches Haym)
You think they'll have drums for Haym Salomon in the
morning?
(He cackles. The others
are silent. Demezes struggles
with his thoughts)
Nathan Hale died by hanging and Robert Hunt by an iron in
the hands of the keeper of this prison....
(He continues in a droning
voice)
I've seen them come and go ~ but the first death at
night is John Banks, with the roll of drums..•• I'd want
to die at night — though when a man's dead it's all one —
it'a all on© —
DEMEZES
LIstenI
HAYM SALOMON (quietly)
It's the cart•* *•
(The sound of a cart on
cobblestones is heard)
BOSS
It's th© butcher's wagon ~ it's the butcher's wagon
DEMEZES
Stop I
ROSS
You can see — all you have to do Is look out* I've seen
them come and go
JQHN ATKINS (sharply to Ross)
For Christ's sake, shut upl
CORNELIUS (quie tly)
It's war*
OWENS (from his cot)
Oh, God, look down into the Provost ---
DEMEZES (to Haym)
They can't do this to you I If you die
HAYM (almost to himself)
I only wish — ~
DEMEZES
What? Tell me what you wish, HaymI Your wife and your
s o n ---
HAYM
I wish a man could do th© things his spirit feels he
could do*
ROSS
A spirit In a sick body! Last night you coughed out
your lungs I
CORNELIUS
Yes, Hay#, the Provost gets ua all if the wall won't*
- HAYM
— — if a man had a chance to stand once more with th©
Sons of Liberty!
ATKINS (with enthusiasm and feeling)
So you were with the Sons of LibertyI
FIRST PRISONER (as above)
Were you with them when they tried to burn New York
rather than give It to the British?
SECOND PRISONER
when they dumped th© tea in Boston Harbor?
ATKINS
---— did you ever meet General Putnam?
THIRD PRISONER (to Demesses; eagerly)
— and you were one, too?
FIRST PRISONER
Did you ever see their leader — Alexander MacDougall
HAYM
W© were with MacDougall.*.* But you are right, Mr. Ross,
a sick man is a poor soldier. The war needs strong men*
It needs Samuel Demezes. They cannot break you, Samuel*
The Provost is a hell and Cunningham is its devil, but
there Is a spirit a spirit, gentlemen, that Is America.
If John Banks dies — if Haym Salomon dies
DEMEZES (breaking)
They can't I I'll die with you! We have stood together
all these days, fought for freedom together
HAYM
No, Samuel, noI Gentlemen, I am a Jew. It may be that
I was not intended for liberty. I seem to remember only
one short hour. The air was sweet. There was no on©
looked at me differently than they did at other men*
There were no whispers when men looked at me* My wife
set our son's feet on th© soil of this land. She let
him stand for a moment and her face was bright* No one
said, "What right have you to stand here? By what right
are you happy?" There was no hand lifted against us!
One man came to where we stood. He bent down and touched
our son's head* He said to Rachel, "You have a nice boy
there — a nice boy."
ROBS (vehemently; touched by Haym'a words)
Now a military prison in New York — and the butcher's
