GRANNY MAUMEE
THE RIDER OF DREAMS
SIMON THE CYRENIAN
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO · DALLAS
ATLANTA · SAN FRANCISCO
MACMILLAN & CO., Limited
LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA
MELBOURNE
THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd.
TORONTO
Granny Maumee
The Rider of Dreams
Simon The Cyrenian
Plays for a Negro Theater
BY
RIDGELY TORRENCE
New York
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1917
All rights reserved
Copyright, 1917,
By RIDGELY TORRENCE
Copyright, 1917,
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
Set up and printed. Published September, 1917.
For permission to perform these plays application must be madeto the author in care of the publishers.
GRANNY MAUMEE
Scene: Living room in an old cabin with wallsblackened by age. Red cotton curtains andred covers on the chairs and table. In leftcorner back, an open fire smoulders in a greatrough fireplace. There is a door at back leadingout of doors. There are also doors left andright. A bed at left covered with a whitecounterpane. The room is neat and thereare many growing flowers about potted inrude wooden boxes. Toward the right isan iron flower stand consisting of a basinmounted on a tripod. This stand is filledwith a mass of bright red geraniums. Alarge chest against the wall at right iscovered with red. A table near centre bearscandles. Beside the table in a high-backedchair sits Granny Maumee. She is seento be blind. She is black and thin, withwhite hair and a face so seared by burnsthat it masks her great age. Her greatgranddaughter Pearl, a girl of nineteen,is moving briskly about the room straighteningchairs and rearranging flowers.
Pearl
Seem kinder funny fer me to be fixin’ up forSapphie. Seem like I’m wukin’ for her by theday. Mebbe she will tek’n hiah me now she’smarried. Seem kinder odd to be hiahed by ablood sisteh.
Granny
Spread my fine-spun sheets on de baid.
Pearl
I got the nex’ bes’.
Granny
Fol’ um up an’ git out de fines’.
Pearl
Hit weahs um o