[G-IV-3]

[Deemer]

(Ilya starts for the door but Irina stops in the garden. Trigorin stops with her. Ilya turns.)

ILYA: Coming in?

IRINA: Not yet. Ilya, tell me the truth. How bad is my brother?

ILYA: I can only tell you what I think personally.

IRINA: I understand.

ILYA: And I'm not a doctor.

TRIGORIN: Quit beating around the bush and tell us what you think.

ILYA: No need to get huffy about it.

IRINA: He didn't mean it. Did you, Boris? I just want your opinion, Ilya. I understand that's all it is.

ILYA: In my opinion, he doesn't have much time. But I could be wrong.

IRINA: When did the doctor come last?

ILYA: Oh, he has no use for doctors.

IRINA (to Trigorin): See what I have to put up with? The first thing I'm going to do is get a doctor here.

ILYA: He won't like that.

IRINA: I'm not going to tell him. I'm just going to do it.

TRIGORIN: I admire your brother's sense of independence.

IRINA: I don't when it puts his life in danger.

TRIGORIN: If it's his time, it's his time. You can't argue with destiny.

IRINA: I can argue with Pyotr being stubborn. There's no need for stupidity to usher destiny in sooner than she's expected.

TRIGORIN: Do you really think he will cooperate with a doctor simply because it's you who invite him to the house?

IRINA: What else can I do? I have to do what I think is right. If he still refuses to see a doctor, at least I have a free conscience.

TRIGORIN: Ah! So this isn't about your brother's health, it's about your conscience.

IRINA: Why are you trying to start a fight?

TRIGORIN: I'm just striving for clarity.

(A pause.)

ILYA: Shall we go in?

IRINA: I'm not ready. I need to prepare myself.

TRIGORIN (to Ilya): The mind of an actress: never make an entrance without preparing for it.

IRINA: I refuse to argue with you.

TRIGORIN: I'm not arguing with you either.

IRINA: It sounds like you are.

TRIGORIN: Irina, I know how hard any kind of illness is for you to deal with. I just think you should be prepared for the worst. Ilya may be right, and your brother is on his death bed.

IRINA: What a terrible way to put it.

ILYA: Oh, he still moves about, long as he's in the wheel chair.

IRINA: Then that isn't so bad, is it?

(A pause.)

IRINA: It does look like it may clear up. You may get to fish yet, Boris.

TRIGORIN: I hope so!

ILYA: You might catch something when they feed in the evening.

IRINA: It's hard to believe that all of this will be mine some day.

TRIGORIN: You think Pyotr will give you everything?

IRINA: Why wouldn't he? I'm the only family he has.

TRIGORIN: Maybe he has a woman in town.

IRINA: Don't be ridiculous.

TRIGORIN: Stranger things have happened. Especially at the reading of a will. It's as if the Last Will and Testament lets a man take off all his masks at last and address the world from beyond the grave, in absolute truth and candor. For twenty years he has had a mistress in town, and he will leave everything to her. It's happened.

IRINA: In stories.

TRIGORIN: In the world!

ILYA: I heard of a guy, married with children, and he left everything to his high school sweetheart, the first love of his life. Right out of the blue. It shocked his wife, let me tell you.

TRIGORIN: See there?

IRINA: I can't picture my brother with a mistress.

(She laughs at the idea.)

TRIGORIN: What would you do with the place anyway? Not move here, I trust.

IRINA: Not permanently. I'd keep you on to run it.

ILYA: That's a relief to hear, madam.

IRINA: But I'd do something else, too.

TRIGORIN: I can hear the wheels turning.

IRINA: I'd start an acting school.

TRIGORIN: I should have guessed.

IRINA: And you could start a writing school.

TRIGORIN: That's the last thing in the world I wish to do.

IRINA: All it requires is that you lend your name to it. Wouldn't this be a spectacular location for an acting school? We could build a permanent stage -- only not near the house, near the lake.

ILYA: Where would you get students? I mean, I'm not so sure there are many children in town wanting to go on the stage.

IRINA: My students would come from Moscow!

ILYA: Moscow? How many would there be? Where would they stay?

IRINA: We'd have to build, of course -- dormitories and classrooms. Oh, Boris, it could be just what I've always dreamed of doing when I retire.

TRIGORIN: I don't expect that will be soon.

IRINA: It's never too early to prepare.

TRIGORIN (to Ilya): The creed of the actress again.

ILYA: It sounds like a mighty ambitious plan.

IRINA: Of course it's ambitious. I wouldn't settle for something ordinary. They can find an ordinary acting school anywhere.

TRIGORIN: The location will be spectacular.

IRINA: Of course it is. And you envied Kostya for being able to be here to write. This is perfect for a writing school as well.

TRIGORIN: As long as I don't have to teach.

IRINA: Oh, I'm going to teach! I look forward to teaching. I have so much I can teach them.

(A pause, as Irina is lost in her dream.)

TRIGORIN: First things first. They're going to wonder where we are.

ILYA: Shall we go in now, madam?

IRINA: Yes, we'll go in. I'm not going to be startled. I'm not going to look concerned. This is just like any ordinary visit. I'm ready to enter. Boris, how do I look? I feel so old today.

(With great fanfare, she enters the house, and the others follow.)

[follow them]