Marionette

S. M. Iwen

Navy curtains give way to a post Civil War, Southern scene. A flustered and quite untidy southern belle takes the stage. Scarlett O’Hara proclaims, “As God as my Witness, I will never be hungry again!” and the audience is taken aback by the powerful performance, and check their programs to see who the actress is. The program only states, “Marionette.” A puppet? Some people wonder. What’s her last name? What’s her first? These people are the tourists and out-of-towners who are unfamiliar with the Carroll Farnsby Playhouse and it’s usual cast.

The curtain falls one last time, and the orchestra finishes the exit piece. The audience has filed out, and a few bouquets are left for the radiant Scarlett O’Hara, although she never gets them. Mamère is waiting for her in the dressing room. Scarlett enters the room and allows Mamère to undress her, and wash the make-up off her face. Marionette picks up her costume and replaces it in the closet. She then pushes aside the costumes enough for the two to climb the attic stairs.

Marionette climbs in her bed. The sheets provide enough costume for her to feel comfortable as she drifts into a kind of sleep. Mamère hums softly as she knits in her rocking chair. An older woman does not need as much sleep as a budding starlet. She will retire a few hours after Marionette is fast asleep. When Marionette rises, Mamère will have been up for hours and will be ready to dress her for the next show. No breakfast will await Marionette each morning, the first show is never good on a full stomach, especially in the role of Scarlett O’Hara.

The curtains rise and fall like clockwork and the audiences seem all the same. The all are surprised to see the leading lady act and many implore the box office as to her identity. The workers in the box office shrug off the questions and it’s not worth the pursuit. They only seem to recall that she was good, not perfect. Perfection is impossible. Still people left flowers and sometimes stood at the back doors to wait to see I she’d come out. All efforts were fruitless, at least for as long as the young boy from the area could remember. Jack grew up around the Carroll Farnsby Playhouse and remembered Marionette’s premier….