I MARRIED YOU

A Two-Act Drama

SETTING: A campsite. Thursday 8 PM. Right stage an unassembled tent and support poles lie on the ground.

AT RISE: Under a dim spot, indicative of twilight, WALTER and INGRID stand in front of the tent. HE stands behind her with his arms around her waist. THEY gaze ahead at the scene before them.

INGRID: I love the mountains.

WALTER: Spoken like a woman born on the slopes of Kilamanjaro. (Looks around.) It's getting dark. We'd better get the tent up.

WALTER starts to pull away. INGRID grabs his arms and keeps them wrapped around her.

INGRID: Not yet. Let's enjoy the sunset.

WALTER: (Pointing at an upward angle.) Look at that distant chalet! The windows are golden with sunlight.

INGRID: You make me feel golden!

WALTER: I'm glad we could finally get away.

INGRID: Don't leave again tomorrow.

WALTER: People are depending on me.

LIGHTS: A flash of lightning.

WALTER: Lightning. Quick, the tent.

INGRID holds on to WALTER.

INGRID: I'm sure the storm is far off.

SOUND: Thunder

WALTER: It's a mile away!

WALTER and INGRID set to assembling the tent. They struggle with the poles.

WALTER: These poles don't work.

INGRID: Check the instructions.

WALTER: I left them at home.

INGRID: Why?

WALTER: I thought I remembered how.

SOUND: Wind at a high speed.

WALTER and INGRID continue to struggle with the tent poles.

WALTER: Hold the tent while I force the poles in.

INGRID holds the tent up. While struggling with the poles, they break in WALTER's hands.

INGRID: Now you've done it!

LIGHTS: A flash of lightning.

SOUND: Rain, wind, and thunder.

WALTER: Quick, get in. We'll prop it up from inside.

INGRID: With broken poles?

WALTER: It's the tent's fault!

INGRID: If you'd brought the instructions!

WALTER: If you hadn't dawdled!

LIGHTS down.

SOUND: Heavy rainfall and thunder.

SETTING: Hotel suite. Saturday 3 PM. The room has an adequate, but not expensive, atmosphere. Situated along the back wall are: to the right, a door to the hallway; center stage, a window; and to the left, an interior doorway. Front stage center are a small sofa, a coffee table in front of it, and an armchair to the right. A few steps to the left of the sofa is a single bed. Note: The scene beyond the window portrays a sub-Saharan African urban setting and also denotes the time of day by appropriate lighting.

AT RISE: WALTER is seated on the sofa. A briefcase is open and lecture notes are spread out on the coffee table. WALTER eyes his notes for several moments, his body language expressing perplexion.

SOUND: Phone rings.

WALTER picks up phone.

WALTER: Hello?

FATMA appears standing at far right stage, facing away from WALTER.

LIGHTS: Fatma is dimly backlit, so she appears in silhouette.

FATMA: Mr. Walter Trobisch?

WALTER: Yes.

FATMA: Is it always wrong to leave your husband?

WALTER: Why do you want to leave him?

FATMA: He won't marry me.

WALTER: You said he was your husband.

FATMA: He says, "When you live with me, it's like I married you." What makes marriage a marriage?

WALTER: How long have you been together?

FATMA: More than a year.

WALTER: Do you have children?

FATMA: He doesn't want any. But he is very good to me. He pays for my education. He takes me to school and picks me up.

WALTER: How old are you?

FATMA: Twenty-two. I'm trying to complete high school.

WALTER: Could you perhaps go back to your parents, until he is willing to arrange a wedding?

FATMA: My parents live hundreds of miles away. Besides, they threw me out when I started living with him. They don't approve of him.

WALTER: Why not?

FATMA: He's European.

WALTER: What a difficult situation. Could you two come and see me here in the hotel?

FATMA: He would never come.

WALTER: If you gave me your phone number, I could call him.

FATMA: He'd hang up on you.

WALTER: Could you come to my lectures?

FATMA: He doesn't want me going out.

WALTER: Do you ever get out?

FATMA: Only for classes. When he leaves, he orders me to stay home.

WALTER: Where does he go?

FATMA: He doesn't tell me. What can I do?

WALTER: I don't know.

FATMA: Can you at least pray with me?

WALTER: Are you a Christian?

FATMA: No. But I attended a Christian elementary school, the only school in the village.

WALTER: (Speaking to God.) Almighty Father, show us your solution for this difficult--

FATMA is startled and abruptly hangs up phone.

LIGHTS down on Fatma.

WALTER: I didn't get her name!

LIGHTS down.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.