The Milliner’s Dilemma

Characters
BLISS, a young woman (to herself seems more like a poison than a bliss)
STEWART, her father who is a stiff sort, tailor by trade, with a tape measure round his neck, and the feeling that there are pins, sharp straight pins, somewhere about his person

PLACE her bed and just beyond it there is a hook on the ceiling over her bed from which a thick wire extends, strong enough to hold her, and there is a lot of bad lighting that creates strange sharp angles

THE MILLINER'S DILEMMA

Sharp light falls on BLISS yet STEWART is partially obscured

BLISS
Whatever you say you're wrong

STEWART
Bliss, Bliss

(Lights shift to obscure BLISS and highlight STEWART)

BLISS
I am not here for you

STEWART
Please Bliss, you know how I get

(Lights shift to show BLISS working with a large sharp needle and gold thread on a brocade chapeau )

BLISS
I am not here for you, father
or your fancy ideas

The Milliner’s Dilemma

STEWART
It won't be so awful

BLISS
What you want to do I refuse

STEWART
Not how you make it sound

BLISS
I have my own ideas already

(Lights shift, darker)

BLISS
I'm grown and have my own ideas

STEWART
Show me, show me then

BLISS
Let me down

(We see BLISS is hanging from the hook in the ceiling over her bed STEWARD goes to let her down, but the lights get very bright and flash, an alarm goes off )

STEWART
Someone's at the door

BLISS
Only the post Let them go

STEWART
And we'll miss the delivery or the order - it could be an order

The Milliner’s Dilemma

BLISS
I'm not spinning any more gold today, father
My quota is met

STEWART
You'll hang a bit longer though, I'll just go see

(Lights shift onto BLISS as she swings from her pendulum)

BLISS
I like to swing
I like to sing
I like to be your bird
I like the air
A nest of hair
And laugh at all the absurdity
you heard me -- gee !!!!!
I like to swing like a bird!

(Lights change)

BLISS
Birds don't swing they fly

STEWART
I taught you that song

BLISS
Birds don't swing they fly

STEWART
It's a very nice song

The Milliner’s Dilemma

BLISS
Nice for you

STEWART
When I ask you to sing it, you should oblige me

BLISS
Come on then, give us a kiss

(STEWART goes to kiss her BLISS stabs him with the sharp needle Lights shift wildly through the following with strange tableaux )

BLISS STEWART
I like to swing Ow!
I like to sing Ow!
I like to be your bird Ow!
I like the air Stop it!
A nest of hair
And laugh at all the absurdity Terrible child!
you heard me -- gee !!!!!
I like to swing like a bird! You awful thing!

(STEWART slaps her and SHE hangs as if dead.)

BLISS
(absurdly awake)
I like to swing like a bird!

END of PLAY