ACT 1, SCENE 1

LOCATIONS SIGNAGE: FEBRUARY 1886

HARRY and YOUNG ESME (4) are in the Scriptorium. There is a grate with a low fire burning. HARRY is sorting slips alongside caring for ESME, so he is sometimes distracted. The following is their little ritual.

HARRY: How old are you?

ESME: I am four years old!

HARRY: And where are we?

ESME: We are in the Scrippy! Scrip-tor-i-um. (diverts from the ‘script’) And I am on top of the table instead of under it!

HARRY looks around, worried.

HARRY: True.

ESME: I like under-the-table, Da!

HARRY: You do?

ESME: I do! It’s – secret. I can hide there. Under the table. Inside the lamp!

HARRY: Inside the what?

ESME: The lamp. Of Aladdin. Like ‘under-the-table’ is ‘inside Aladdin’s lamp’. In his cave! Like in the story. That you told me. Aladdin.

HARRY: I see.

ESME: I can hide. Under the table. Inside the lamp.

HARRY: And be very quiet.

ESME nods.

ESME: And good. Sooo good.

HARRY nods.

ESME: (beat) So … (she prompts) ‘What are we …’

HARRY: Oh yes. What are we doing?

ESME: We are opening the post. (beat) And … /

HARRY: /And what is in the post?

ESME: Slips!

HARRY: What kind of slips?

ESME: QUO-TAY-SHUN slips! People send them. Here.

HARRY: Volunteers.

ESME: Vol-un … Yes. Send Quo-tay-shun slips. About words. With meanings. Of words. And examples. Of words. From books. Words from books. Vol … (defeated) People! Find them. And send them. To the Scrippy. Here.

HARRY: For?

ESME: (triumphant) For the Dic-shon-ar-ee!

HARRY: You are a very clever four-year-old, Esme Nicoll.

ESME: I know. Perfect.

HARRY: So. To work. This slip (he hands it to her) to the pigeonholes’ pile.

ESME: Uh-huh!

HARRY: And this slip to the fire pile.

ESME: There he goes. (beat) She goes.

HARRY: She?

ESME: There are girl slips as well as boy slips.

HARRY: Of course. And this – (he stops)

ESME: Da?

HARRY: It IS a girl slip.

ESME: What does it say?

WORDS SIGNAGE: LILY

HARRY: ‘Lily.’ (reads)/ ‘A plant or its flower of the genus Lilium’. (fades)

ESME: /Like Mama?

HARRY: Like Mama.

ESME: (sounds the letters phonetically) L-I-L-um-another letter. (beat) Does ‘L-I-L – mmm’ on this slip mean that Mama will be in the Dic-shon-ar-eee?

HARRY: In a way. Yes.

ESME: Will we all be in the Dic-shon-ar-ee?

HARRY: No. We won’t.

ESME: Why not?

HARRY: A word must mean something other than just being a person’s name to be in the Dictionary.

ESME: Like Mama was a flower.

HARRY: The most beautiful flower. But. This particular slip –

ESME: (chanting) My mama – the most beautiful flower!/

HARRY: /is incomplete so …

HARRY stands with slip, collects the others from the ‘fire pile’ and moves towards the fire.

ESME: Da?

HARRY: It barely has a definition, Esme. (beat) So – into the fire it goes!

ESME: Da!

He throws the slip onto the fire.

ESME: NO!!!!

And she dives after the slip, thrusting her (right) hand into the fire to retrieve it. Screams with pain.

HARRY: Esme! Esme, your hand!