EISENSTEIN in MEXICO
by
Billy Marshall Stoneking
Copyright c 2004
A Background Following the success of Battleship Potemkin and a lengthy European lecture tour, the internationally famous Soviet film director, Sergei Eisenstein, made his way to California where he had been invited by Paramount Pictures to make a “big Hollywood movie”. Unfortunately, the films Eisenstein wanted to make didn’t interest the studio; and those that did, Eisenstein didn’t want to make. After six, frustrating months, Hollywood and Eisenstein parted company. Despite the fact he had been abroad for more than a year, Eisenstein felt no urgency to return to Russia. Encouraged by his friend, Charlie Chaplin, and inspired by a life-long passion for all things Mexican, he sought the support of the American novelist, Upton Sinclair, and his millionaire wife, to bankroll the making of an epic film about Mexico. The sixty-year-old socialist and champion of lost causes was more than willing. Here was a perfect opportunity for expressing solidarity with his fellow workers, while publicizing his own commitment to “the cause”. Sinclair’s wife, Mary Craig, also recognized her chance (perhaps her last chance} to make some kind of mark on the world. Given a budget of twenty-five thousand dollars - and this at the height of the Great Depression! - Eisenstein assured the Sinclairs he would finish the film in three months using no more than twenty-five-thousand feet of stock. However, artistic, moral and political pressures intervened, and by the time an “almost-bankrupt” Sinclair forced him to abandon the project in February, 1932, he had shot more than two-hundred-and-thirty-thousand feet of film at a cost of more than one-hundred-thousand dollars. The making and unmaking of Sergei Eisenstein (and his unfinished epic, Que Viva Mexico!) is the subject of this play.
Sergei M. Eisenstein: The Soviet film director. Aged 50.
Eduard Tisse: Eisenstein's cameraman. Aged 30
(except Act II where he appears as a
50-year-old man).
Grigori ("Grisha") Alexandrov: Eisenstein's assistant director and
co-writer. Aged 30. (except in Act II
where he appears as a 50-year-old
man)
Upton Sinclair: 60-year-old American novelist/
muckraker/socialist.
Mary Craig Sinclair: Upton Sinclair's wife. Aged 40.
Hunter S. Kimbrough: Mary Craig's alcoholic brother, ex-
banker, and business manager of
Eisenstein's Mexican film. Mid-30s.
Chabela Villasenor: Painter/actor/activist. A Mexican
woman in her late 20s. Highly
educated.
Don Venus: An Indian peasant, hermaphrodite,
retablo painter. Ageless
The play is in two acts.
The setting is Eisenstein's Moscow bedroom,
transformed by memory and dream.
The time: February 1948.
SETTING: Eisenstein’s bedroom: a place of
light & shade into which Mexico – or,
rather, the memory of Mexico - leaks:
adobe arches, broken railings, a
crumbling staircase – a scene of neglect
and decay.
AT RISE: BLACKOUT. An out-of-tune violin can be
heard. Stage lights up. A masked Indian
peasant (DON VENUS) threads his way in
and out of the arches. He plays, then
pauses, then plays some more, as
if conjuring spirits.
SERGEI EISENSTEIN, clothed in a red-white-
and-blue dressing gown, descends the
stairs. HE listens as if trying to
determine the source of the music, then
turns, catching a glimpse of DON VENUS as
HE disappears into the shadows.
EISENSTEIN goes to investigate, but is
distracted by something or someone in the
audience. HE moves downstage...
EISENSTEIN
Totya?
(Louder)
Totya!
(EDWARD TISSE and GRIGORI
[“Grisha”] ALEXANDROV enter.
TISSE lugs a battered camera case
covered with decals - Paris, Berlin,
London, Zurich. ALEXANDROV
totes a large, wooden tripod)
ALEXANDROV
So, here you are! Just as I thought. The man
himself.
EISENSTEIN
Is it time?
ALEXANDROV
Past time!
TISSE
We have been looking everywhere.
ALEXANDROV
From now on we keep together. No more wandering.
TISSE
Already he was composing the headlines – "EISENSTEIN
DEFECTS... MOSCOW IN UPROAR."
EISENSTEIN
Eduard, please! Not so loud.
TISSE
Sorry. I keep forgetting.
(Conspiratorially to ALEXANDROV)
The free world.
ALEXANDROV
(Finger to lips)
Shhh.
EISENSTEIN
Did you see him?
TISSE
Who?
EISENSTEIN
Someone has been following me.
ALEXANDROV
Someone from the press.
TISSE
Or the secret police.
ALEXANDROV
No. Too obvious.
TISSE
That’s how they do it!
EISENSTEIN
Do what?
TISSE
Hide. They hide by not hiding.
ALEXANDROV
You know about the Checka, do you, Eduard?
TISSE
Not really. But it seems logical.
ALEXANDROV
Six months in Hollywood and his brain has
gone soft.
TISSE
I was not the one who got heat stroke!
ALEXANDROV
Human beings were not made for this much sun.
EISENSTEIN
Listen!
(They listen... long enough for
EISENSTEIN to notice their
appearance)
EISENSTEIN (Continued)
My god! Look at you! Both of you. You haven’t
aged a day.
ALEXANDROV
Looking for you keeps us young.
TISSE
We should disappear more often.
ALEXANDROV
Maybe we could work our way back to when we were
not yet born.
EISENSTEIN
What’s going on? Tell the truth. How do I look?
ALEXANDROV
How does he look?
TISSE
A little pale.
EISENSTEIN
Pale?
TISSE
Sleepy. But the eyes… the eyes are clear.
ALEXANDROV
Don’t flatter him. He was the one who wanted
to stay up all night.
EISENSTEIN
For a moment I almost thought…
(Looks round)
Where are we?
ALEXANDROV
What does it look like?
TISSE
We are at the train station, Sergei. We are
going on the train.
EISENSTEIN
What train? Where?
ALEXANDROV
I know where I wish we were going.
TISSE
Unfortunately, that one does not stop here.
EISENSTEIN
(Squinting at something in the distance)
What does it mean… Platform 5?
ALEXANDROV
Platform 5 goes to Portland.
EISENSTEIN
Portland?
ALEXANDROV
If you want to go to Portland, you stand here.
(EISENSTEIN glances left, and
right)
EISENSTEIN
A popular destination.
(Beat)
And if I stand over there?
ALEXANDROV
There are no tracks over there.
EISENSTEIN
Good, Grisha.
(Patting him on the cheek)
Very good.
(HE moves away, taking
in his surroundings)
TISSE
(To ALEXANDROV)
Too much excitement. You know what he’s like.
ALEXANDROV
I know what he used to be like.
TISSE
He’s tired.
ALEXANDROV
I don’t think so.
TISSE
Give him a day; he’ll be back to his old self.
ALEXANDROV
No. He has changed. He forgets.
TISSE
He has more to remember.
ALEXANDROV
Now I see why they call it a "going-away"
party.
EISENSTEIN
(Turning)
What party?
ALEXANDROV
You don’t remember.
EISENSTEIN
I remember everything, Especially the women,
Grisha.
(To TISSE)
Every time I tried talking to one, you came
and took her away.
ALEXANDROV
I was protecting you. Never have I seen such
decadence.
EISENSTEIN
Is that why you were having such a good time!
ALEXANDROV
I was being sociable.
EISENSTEIN
Ah! The sociable socialist. You give new
meaning to the word "party", my friend.
TISSE
(To EISENSTEIN)
All night you talked of nothing but Mexico.
To anyone who would listen.
EISENSTEIN
Mexico?
ALEXANDROV
Today, Mexico; tomorrow, Siberia.
TISSE
You were like a man possessed.
ALEXANDROV
You called Mr Kimbrough a pig.
TISSE
A bourgeois pig.
EISENSTEIN
Next time I'll tell him what I really think.
ALEXANDROV
Next time they will put the Blue Shirts on
to us; and I don't mean clothes.
EISENSTEIN
Have I done something wrong?
ALEXANDROV
Da! You have seen. You have tasted. You
have touched.
EISENSTEIN
No, Grisha! You have touched.
ALEXANDROV
Shaking hands with Rin-Tin-Tin is touching.
TISSE
At least we are working for socialists.
ALEXANDROV
(Disdainfully)
Socialists!
EISENSTEIN
There are socialists in America, Grisha.
ALEXANDROV
With heated swimming pools.
EISENSTEIN
Where they swim is of no concern, so long
as their hearts are in the right place.
ALEXANDROV
It’s what swims round inside the General-
Secretary’s head! I tell you, Hollywood is
nothing compared to the private tinsel town
Comrade Stalin has constructed for himself.
One is defenseless against that kind of
imagination.
EISENSTEIN
This time we will do it right.
ALEXANDROV
If we do not go home soon, soon it will be
too late to go anywhere at all. We have become
like strangers to our own country.
EISENSTEIN
Faint-heartedness does not become you, Grisha.
ALEXANDROV
Neither does death.
EISENSTEIN
A man must finish what he has started.
ALEXANDROV
If he knows what he is aiming for.
EISENSTEIN
For truth, Grisha. For truth.
ALEXANDROV
We might as well kill ourselves now.
EISENSTEIN
No! This time, when they see what we have
made...
TISSE
If we miss the train I will kill you both
myself. Come Sergei, where are your things?
EISENSTEIN
Wait! Let me look. Let me remember.
(Gazes out at the audience)
ALEXANDROV
(to Tisse)
Yesterday, all he could think of was leaving.
And now, already he is homesick! For Los Angeles,
no less!
EISENSTEIN
Imagine! Five hundred women marching through
an endless cactus desert... the peasant soldiers
dragging their wounded... Life and death, my
friends, life and death. And a mural that
dances in the dark.
ALEXANDROV
I thought we were making a travelogue.
TISSE
He is preparing himself.
ALEXANDROV
Terrific.
TISSE
Sergei, please! The train… it will not wait
forever. Come, Grisha, we must hurry.
ALEXANDROV
Ya. Ya, I’m coming.
TISSE
To Mexico!
(TISSE and ALEXANDROV exit)
EISENSTEIN
For all those whom life has cheated... open
the electric paradise!
(Sound of steam train. Flashing red
lights. EISENSTEIN backs away, as
UPTON SINCLAIR and MARY
CRAIG enter, followed by HUNTER
KIMBROUGH, hands in his pockets)
(MARY CRAIG tosses a streamer and
waves. Train sound fades. Flashing
lights stop)
MARY CRAIG
Did I tell him not to drink the water?
SINCLAIR
Five times.
MARY CRAIG
I hope he was listening.
SINCLAIR
I’m sure he heard every word.
MARY CRAIG
Did you see the look on his face? Like a
child goin’ to a birthday party. I hope
we’ve done the right thing, father.
SINCLAIR
The man's a genius, Mary. And he’s all
ours.
MARY CRAIG
Never trust a genius, Upton.
SINCLAIR
You trusted me.
MARY CRAIG
You were different.
SINCLAIR
Yes.
MARY CRAIG
Such an idealist.
SINCLAIR
With both feet firmly on the ground.
MARY CRAIG
And your precious head in the clouds.
SINCLAIR
It’s a dream come true.
MARY CRAIG
Your dream.
SINCLAIR
Our dream. I couldn’t have done it without
you.
MARY CRAIG
I wouldn’t have let you.
SINCLAIR
Listen to her, Hunter! She already sounds
like a movie mogul. I can see it now.
(Framing the words)
"Mary - Craig - Sinclair..." in ten foot
letters.
MARY CRAIG
You mean I’ll be famous!
SINCLAIR
Indeed you will. The woman who sent Sergei
Eisenstein to put his ear to the heartbeat
of Mexico.
MARY CRAIG
Let’s hope he knows how many throbs we can
afford. Did you talk to Hunter?
SINCLAIR
No. Not yet.
KIMBROUGH
Talk to me about what?
SINCLAIR
We want you to be our business manager.
MARY CRAIG
We wouldn’t ask if we didn't think you
could do it.
KIMBROUGH
What sort of business?
MARY CRAIG
Why movie business, of course!
SINCLAIR
We’re not asking you to make it, Hunter.
MARY CRAIG
We only want you to keep an eye on things.
KIMBROUGH
Keep an eye on things! I don’t know the first
thing about movies.
MARY CRAIG
Neither do I!
SINCLAIR
It’ll only be for two or three months.
MARY CRAIG
Believe me, if there was anyone else…
KIMBROUGH
Why don't you do it?
MARY CRAIG
Hunter, be sensible! Why, with my allergies
like mine, I’d be dead within a week. Besides,
I have commitments.
KIMBROUGH
So do I!
MARY CRAIG
And what commitments are those?
KIMBROUGH
How’m I s'pose to find a job if I'm in Mexico?
MARY CRAIG
Baby, you have a job! I'm givin’ you one.
Look, I’ve already bought you a plane ticket.
You’ll be down there two or three days
before the others even arrive. A change’ll
do you good.
KIMBROUGH
That's what you said when you invited me to
move in with you an’ Mr Sinclair.
MARY CRAIG
Responsibility builds character!
SINCLAIR
A young man needs to get out and see something
of the world.
MARY CRAIG
Such a sensitive child.
KIMBROUGH
I’m not a child.
MARY CRAIG
Course you are! You’re my baby brother.
SINCLAIR
I wouldn’t dismiss your sister’s offer out
of hand. This might very well be the opportunity
of a lifetime.
KIMBROUGH
Yeah, Mexico.
MARY CRAIG
And what’s that s’pose to mean? Have you been
behaving yourself?
KIMBROUGH
What?
MARY CRAIG
You heard me. How long’s it been since you
had a drink?
KIMBROUGH
What’s a drink?
MARY CRAIG
You know what I'm talking about.
SINCLAIR
Mother, I'm sure we needn’t lecture the boy.
KIMBROUGH
Do I look like a drunkard?
MARY CRAIG
No. Worse.
SINCLAIR
The Russians are teetotallers.
MARY CRAIG
It’s not the Russians I'm worried about.
KIMBROUGH
What do you want me to say?
MARY CRAIG
I want you to promise me.
KIMBROUGH
Promise you what?
MARY CRAIG
Say, “I’ll never touch a drink as long as I’m
in Mexico.”
KIMBROUGH
Sister, please.
MARY CRAIG
Swear it!
KIMBROUGH
People are watchin’!
MARY CRAIG
I don't care. I wanna hear it. Say it! Say
it, Hunter. Say "I’ll never touch a drink as
long as I’m in Mexico."
KIMBROUGH
All right, all right then… I’ll-never-touch-a-
drink-as-long-as-I’m-in-Mexico. Happy?
MARY CRAIG
C’mon. Come to mama.
(Putting her arms around him)
I always knew you’d do it. You’re gonna be
just fine.
SINCLAIR
I’ve never met a young man yet who didn’t
like Mexico.
MARY CRAIG
I’d say this calls for a celebration.
SINCLAIR
I’ll give Doug and Mary a ring… and Chaplin.
MARY CRAIG
Don’t you dare! I’ve had enough of that dreadful
little man to last me a lifetime. We’ll just keep
it to the three of us.
SINCLAIR
Good idea.
MARY CRAIG
Let’s try Henry's. I feel like cheese soufflé.
SINCLAIR
I’ll phone for reservations.
MARY CRAIG
We’ll make a night of it.
(Taking SINCLAIR'S arm)
Come along then, Hunt. We have to dress for dinner.
(SINCLAIR and MARY CRAIG
exit)
.
(KIMBROUGH pulls a whisky
flask from his pocket; swigs)
(Sound of airplane engine - it grows
louder. KIMBROUGH takes another
drink, slips the flask into his pocket
and hurries off)
(The sound of the engine rises to
a crescendo, then stops. Silence)
(EISENSTEIN comes forward. HE
picks up the streamer, gazes at it.
The sound of a violin can be heard.
HE drops the streamer and looks
round, trying to discover where the
music is coming from)
(KIMBROUGH re-enters, dressed
in linen trousers and a cotton shirt.
The music stops)
KIMBROUGH
Yesterday’s rushes are already in Los Angeles,
if that’s what you’re lookin’ for.
EISENSTEIN
(Looking up)
Another three thousand feet we don’t get to see.
KIMBROUGH
It pleases me to see you’ve started filmin’
again. Helluva day to be on th’ job, though.
Must be a hunnerd degrees in th’ shade. Still,
I guess it’s as good a place as any to set out a
depression. Reminds me o’ Natchez after th’ war.
You been to Natchez? Lovely town. Quite stately.
My mother was from Natchez.
(Daubs forehead with damp
handkerchief)
Most artistic woman I ever knew. Runs in th’
family. Her side. Always thought I’d end up
a painter.
EISENSTEIN
She must be missing you.
KIMBROUGH
I don’t think so. She’s dead.
EISENSTEIN
Oh. I’m sorry.
KIMBROUGH
Happens to th’ best of us. Hell, I didn’t
find out ‘til nearly a month after th’
funeral. No one tells me a damn thing.
EISENSTEIN
How upsetting.
KIMBROUGH
I was her favorite. Went all gawmy when I ended
up in th’ bank. Said I was wastin’ my talents.
Prob’ly still be there, too, if th’ stock market
hadn’t gone bust. Guess I’ll just have to
settle for bein’ a film producer now.
EISENSTEIN
Such freedom.
KIMBROUGH
Land o’ opportunity.
EISENSTEIN
So I’ve been told.
KIMBROUGH
You look a mite pale. Upset stomach? I had
mine yesterday. Damn inquest. Fancy pickin’
up a loaded gun like that.
EISENSTEIN
It was an accident.
KIMBROUGH
Then again, it might just be th’ food.
(Pulls out his flask)
EISENSTEIN
It was a terrible mistake.
KIMBROUGH
I’m more of a steak an’ eggs man, myself. Maybe
you oughta be takin’ somethin’ for it.
(Takes a swig)
EISENSTEIN
Like you.
(Pause)
KIMBROUGH
Some people drink to forget. Me… I drink to
remember. Which reminds me… I believe you
promised my sister a script.
EISENSTEIN
I gave you my outline.
KIMBROUGH
You gave me an envelope with a halfa dozen
sentences scratched on it.
EISENSTEIN
A script is of no use to me, Mr Kimbrough.
It is the images that tell me what to do.
KIMBROUGH
Yeah, well, my sister keeps lookin’ at th’
pictures, only th’ pictures never add up
to anything. Th’ more she looks, th' less
she sees.
EISENSTEIN
That is because she is looking at rushes!
KIMBROUGH
Well then, they must be goin’ too fast for
her.
EISENSTEIN
Nothing has changed, Mr Kimbrough. The film
is still in six parts: prologue, epilogue
and four novellas.
KIMBROUGH
Sex, bullfights an’ revolution. Everything
a man could want. Everything except a story.
When do we get a story, Mr Eisenstein?
EISENSTEIN
Not yet.
KIMBROUGH
The story of Not Yet… that oughta keep ‘em
in their seats.
EISENSTEIN
It will all become clear in good time.
KIMBROUGH
You said that last month, and the month before
that.
(Beat)
I wouldn’t take my sister’s generosity for granted.
She is a much more complicated woman than you could
ever imagine. Oh, I've seen her genuinely outraged
at th’ plight of th’ poor, an’ more than a little
indignant on behalf of th’ hungry, but don’t think
that means she wants ‘em livin’ next door. No suh.
Lost causes an’ dirty hands do not sit down
together at my sister’s table.
EISENSTEIN
The story will come when it is ready.
KIMBROUGH
All I’m lookin’ for is something’ uncomplicated.
You know... boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy
gets girl again. I don’t much care, long as it
keeps Mary off my back. I don’t need that kind
of aggravation, an’ neither do you.
EISENSTEIN
Boy meets girl?
KIMBROUGH
Why not! Why not somethin’ simple? A poor Mexican
boy in search of his fortune. Only findin’ it
nearly damn well kills him. Fires, floods, earthquakes.
Just when it looks like everything’s gonna turn out
all right - hot damn! - robbed by a pack o’ revolutionaries!
Loses everything. Everything but th’ girl, which
is all he really wanted to begin with. I reckon we can
do what we like, long as we give ‘em a happy endin’.
EISENSTEIN
(Unimpressed)
Breathtaking.
KIMBROUGH
You like it?
EISENSTEIN
You ought to be more careful about mixing
your drinks.
KIMBROUGH
Okay, forget th’ revolutionaries. What about th’
rest of it?
EISENSTEIN
When I need your help I will ask for it.
(Pause)
KIMBROUGH
I can be a very good friend, but I make an
even better enemy.
EISENSTEIN
I’m sure comrade Alexandrov and I manage quite
well on our own.
KIMBROUGH
So I’ve noticed. All that breathless whisperin’
behind closed doors. I almost wish I understood
Russian.
EISENSTEIN
I didn’t realize we were keeping you up.
KIMBROUGH
Must be kinda hard, bein’ so far from home,
lackin’ any semblance of association with th’
gentler sex.
EISENSTEIN
You seem to manage.
KIMBROUGH
I am reclusive by nature.
EISENSTEIN
One whore at a time, you mean.
KIMBROUGH
I like women.
EISENSTEIN
So you keep reminding yourself.
KIMBROUGH
Least I never killed anybody. Hell, you lost
more people filmin’ th’ fall of the Winter Palace
than what was killed when th’ damn thing actually
happened. Though I guess one would expect that
sort o’ thing from someone who has so dedicated
himself to th’ idea of social realism. I s’pose
we ought to count ourselves lucky.
EISENSTEIN
You enjoy this don’t you?
KIMBROUGH
I have a greater fondness for cribbage, but yes,
under th’ circumstances, this’ll do.
EISENSTEIN
Stick to your job, Mr Kimbrough.
KIMBROUGH
I intend to.
EISENSTEIN
Mr Sinclair promised there would be no interference.
KIMBROUGH
Mr Sinclair! Mr Sinclair isn't here! We're in
Mexico, remember? I give th’ orders an’ you follow
‘em. An’ spare me th’ crap about how th’ damn
thing writes itself. I’m not interested in
spontaneity. Hell, where I come from a man could
get himself arrested for spontaneity.
EISENSTEIN
To be so bold and to know so little.
KIMBROUGH
What you an’ your boyfriends do in th’ wee
hours of th’ Mexican night is of no concern
to me; but from Monday to Friday between sunrise
an’ sunset, your red ass belongs to th’
company, an’ th’ company wants a goddamned
script. Now either you write one, or I’ll do
it myself.
EISENSTEIN
Those aren’t alternatives.
KIMBROUGH
The alternative is I tell my sister to take her
money elsewhere.
EISENSTEIN
What do you take me for?
KIMBROUGH
You! Why, you’re one o’ them filthy, misguided,
communist, Jew queers I’ve heard so much about.
EISENSTEIN
Don’t push it, Mr Kimbrough.
KIMBROUGH
You think you got nothin’ to lose.
EISENSTEIN
I have everything to lose.
KIMBROUGH
Yeah. I know. That’s what makes it so interestin’.
I look forward to readin’ th’ script.
(HE exits)
(Stage lights fade)
(Several bars of solo violin can
be heard. DON VENUS - masked –
enters. HE moves downstage, stops
playing and peers at the audience;
lifting his hand as if protecting his
eyes from the sun)
(EISENSTEIN approaches)
EISENSTEIN
You!
(DON VENUS is unsure that
HE is the one being addressed)
EISENSTEIN (Continued)
What’re you doing here?
DON VENUS
(Lifts mask)
Senor?
EISENSTEIN
Why are you here?
DON VENUS
Someone was calling.
EISENSTEIN
You are following me. Why?
DON VENUS
You think I am following you, but maybe
it is you who have been following me.
EISENSTEIN
And who is "me"?
DON VENUS
A peasant.
EISENSTEIN
A thief, more likely.
DON VENUS
Si, senor. We are all thieves in Mexico.
Today, to have me inside your box is four
pesos, in a nice way.
(Holds out his hand)
EISENSTEIN
But you are not in my picture.
DON VENUS
Si, senor. In every scene. Sometimes like
this, sometimes like that - I laugh. I pray.
I lie in hammocks. What side do you like best?
This side?
(Turning his head)
Or this?
(Turns the other way)
I think this side.
EISENSTEIN
No.
DON VENUS
No! What! This side?
(Turning the other way)
EISENSTEIN
No, you’re not in my picture. I would’ve
noticed.
DON VENUS
Ah! To act without being noticed! It is not
so easy, senor.
EISENSTEIN
Who are you?
DON VENUS
You like me?
EISENSTEIN
(Looking more closely)
What are you?
DON VENUS
Doña Venustiana Luisa Obregon de San Antonio...
to my mother. But only when she is angry. To
my friends, I am Don Venus. Don Venus, for love.
EISENSTEIN
A woman’s and a man’s name?
DON VENUS
(Crosses himself)
For that we would need more heaven than
one telling could stand.
(Beat)
You are American, yes?
EISENSTEIN
Russian.
DON VENUS
Ah! Communista.
EISENSTEIN
Well…
DON VENUS
Que bueno!
EISENSTEIN
And you?
DON VENUS
(Shrugs)
If the fiesta of bullets was to come again...
but why talk of death? If a man is lost, a piece
of string serves better than a rifle.
EISENSTEIN
You speak very good English for a peasant.
DON VENUS
Si. A blessing... and a curse.
EISENSTEIN
Are you from this village?
DON VENUS
Whichever village has need of me, senor.
I paint retablos.
. EISENSTEIN
Retablos?
DON VENUS
Miracles. Paintings of miracles. I made one
for the Garcia only this morning. It is easy
if one paints without trying. I can show you
if you like.
EISENSTEIN
Show me what?
DON VENUS
What is in front of the eyes and cannot be seen.
There is no end to miracles, senor. You have need
of a painting?
EISENSTEIN
No. A painting, no. But a miracle…very much.
DON VENUS
So you have come to the right man. Or woman,
if you prefer. So much to see! So much to hear!
But first... the fiesta! And then... Memories
of the Future! Come! Let us drink some pulque
and forget our troubles. You have pesos? Good!
Follow me. If the Future is closed, there is
always the Reform of Paradise. Come. I will
show you everything.
(HE moves off. EISENSTEIN
follows; they exit)
(KIMBROUGH enters - script in one
hand, bottle of whisky in the other.
HE sits down, peruses the script)
(CHABELA VILLASENOR enters.
KIMBROUGH looks up as SHE
moves towards the bed, reaches out
and gently caresses the sheets)
KIMBROUGH
"His Highness" isn’t here, if that’s who
you’re lookin’ for.
CHABELA
When will he be back?
. KIMBROUGH
That’s th’ sixty-four dollar question. Who’s askin'?
CHABELA
I am Chabela. Chabela Villasenor.
KIMBROUGH
(Tosses the script aside)
I don’t believe we’ve met.
CHABELA
Si, senor. You came and watched when the horses
trampled the heads of the peasants.
KIMBROUGH
A heart-warmin’ spectacle. Shame we don’t have a few
more scenes like that; my sister might make some of her
money back.
CHABELA
Where can I find Senor Eisenstein?
KIMBROUGH
He expectin’ you, is he?
CHABELA
No.
KIMBROUGH
Well then, your chances are improved. Only time I see
him is when he's not expectin' me.
CHABELA
You know where he has gone?
KIMBROUGH
Lemme see now. I believe he said somethin’
about goin’ to a fiesta. Or was it a funeral?
I was kinda toyin’ with th’ idea of goin’ to th’
funeral myself. Maybe you’d like to join me?
CHABELA
The funeral was last week.
KIMBROUGH
Last week! Huh! ’Nuther social opportunity
missed. I imagine he filmed it, yeah? Th’
boy’s resourceful, I'll give ‘im that. Last
time somethin’ like this happened, he talked
Mr Sinclair into three more months an’ an extra
ten thousand dollars. An’ th’ goddamned
victim lived!
(Beat)
Good turn-out?
CHABELA
Everyone but you, senor.
KIMBROUGH
I’m sure I wasn’t missed. So whadda you wanna see him for?
CHABELA
It is about Senor Balderas.
KIMBROUGH
Who?
CHABELA
The charro in your picture.
KIMBROUGH
Oh! Th’ one who likes to play with guns.
CHABELA
He did not mean to hurt anyone.
KIMBROUGH
No, he just picked up one of th’ Russians
revolvers an’ put a hole th’ size of a fifty-cent
piece through the forehead of our leadin’ lady.
Shame we didn’t get that on film.
CHABELA
She was his sister!
KIMBROUGH
(Beat, impressed)
Killed his sister, did he!
CHABELA
It was an accident. If not for the picture,
it would never have happened.
KIMBROUGH
I didn’t tell him to pull th’ trigger. Hell,
it wasn't even his scene!
CHABELA
He makes jokes. He shows off. It was like
the gun he had been using in the movie.
KIMBROUGH
I wonder.
CHABELA
I am worried for him, senor.
KIMBROUGH
I’m sure th’ police’ll sort it out.
CHABELA
The police do not care.
KIMBROUGH
An’ neither do I. An’ if it’s money he’s lookin’
for he can forget about it. Everybody signed
th’ paper relievin’ us of all responsibility.
I'm sure his name's there. Shall I check?
CHABELA
It is not about a piece of paper.
KIMBROUGH
You find me offensive. I can see it in your eyes.
CHABELA
Each of us has his way of killing fleas.
KIMBROUGH
You don't look like you been scratchin'.
CHABELA
There is no end to my fleas. It is Mexico,
remember. So close to the United States and
so far away from God.
KIMBROUGH
An’ here I was thinkin’ Mississippi was bad.
CHABELA
Why do you come, senor?
KIMBROUGH
Lemme see, now… for my health?
CHABELA
What do you think you will find? Fame? Money?
What brings men like you to my country? Why
do you come?
KIMBROUGH
Why? Why for art, my dear, for th’ undeniable
value of art, "knowin’ that th’ obscurity of th’
night only serves to reveal th’ brilliance of
th’ stars". For a price, that is, for a price.
CHABELA
Knowing nothing of the cost.
KIMBROUGH
Kinda strange, ain’t it, how th’ public loves
ya one day and hangs ya th’ next. Oh, I know
how fashionable it is to be all lyric an’ mystic
an’ avidly hymnal about the th’ Indian.
Thirty years ago, th’ same people were killin’
‘em for sport.
(Beat)
You think I disrespect th’ dead, but you’re wrong.
I love th’ dead. Some o’ my best friends are dead.
It’s th’ live ones who give me th’ trouble.
What’re you starin’ at? You want me to say I'm
sorry?
CHABELA
No, senor. Being sorry changes nothing.
KIMBROUGH
Stop playin’ stupid. I went to th’ inquest! I
heard what they said. When th’ judge found out
we were makin’ pictures with people shootin’
each other, he said he had a whole jailful o’
men jus’ waitin’ to be shot; all we had to do
was come an’ get 'em. You think one less peon’s
gonna make any difference? C’mon, we’re doin’
you people a favor puttin’ money in th’
damn place.
CHABELA
And if we are very lucky we can become just
like you.
KIMBROUGH
Bein’ poor don't make people better.
CHABELA
No. It makes them worse.
KIMBROUGH
Clean up your own backyard before you start
jumpin’ on mine.
CHABELA
We are your backyard, senor.
(SHE exits)
KIMBROUGH
Goddamn Mexicans!
(Picks up script and exits)
(Stage lights fade. Convolutions of
light play upon the walls. Shadows
change shape. Time passes. An hour.
A week)
(TISSE enters, carrying his camera.
ALEXANDROV follows, lugging
the tripod. Stage lights up)
TISSE
Da, I know. I know, Grisha. But what can we
do? When it rains, the roads are too muddy.
And when it is dry, it is too hot to move.
ALEXANDROV
At least in Russia, we knew what we had
to do and why. Here, we do nothing but waste
our time. Gods, funerals, bare-breasted
women! Does that sound like the party line?
TISSE
There was also a revolution in Mexico.
ALEXANDROV
It is not revolution Sergei is interested in.
The death of the girl was an omen. Make no mistake.
Nothing good can come of it.
TISSE
You should’ve known better than to leave
your pistol lying around like that.
ALEXANDROV
How was I to know!
TISSE
You can't do things like that in Mexico.
ALEXANDROV
It was chaffing me.
TISSE
And now it chaffs all of us.
ALEXANDROV
We should've gone back to Russia months ago.
He has become a victim of his own dreams.
One could almost believe he was planning to
stay here forever.
TISSE
Bite your tongue!
ALEXANDROV
He would not be the first.
TISSE
He is not a deserter.
ALEXANDROV
Nor is he homesick.
TISSE
What you see is dedication, not disloyalty.
ALEXANDROV
His dedication is to making masterpieces.
Only this time, when he is done, there will
be no masterpiece at all, and we will all be
done!
TISSE
We should be helping him.
ALEXANDROV
I'm trying to.
TISSE
Not by making accusations.
ALEXANDROV
The man I knew does not sit all night on top
of the Pyramid of the Moon, talking to the
Great Bear. Nor does he visit art galleries at
midnight with the lights out. Mexico has bewitched
him. We should've gone back to Moscow when we
had the chance.
TISSE
And we will. When we have finished.
ALEXANDROV
If Sergei Mikhailovich realised how suspicious
it looks...
TISSE
Shhh! He is coming.
(EISENSTEIN enters, a viewing lens
round his neck. HE pushes a full-scale
human skeleton on a stand)
EISENSTEIN
What do you think? He lives at the medical
school. They said I could borrow him for the
epilogue. Or perhaps he is a she. Somehow the
distinction seems unimportant.
ALEXANDROV
So this is what our future looks like.
EISENSTEIN
One day we shall be as peaceful, eh?
.
ALEXANDROV
Sooner rather than later.
EISENSTEIN
Peasants understand these things.
ALEXANDROV
Peasants will not help us finish the movie.
TISSE
Grisha!
EISENSTEIN
Peasants are what this movie is about.
ALEXANDROV
No. Something has happened. Something is different.
EISENSTEIN
Everything is different. It is Mexico.
ALEXANDROV
So now we have to be what we are not.
EISENSTEIN
When I was a child, my nurse taught me to be at home with
simple people. Close to the earth, where things grow and die.
Not walled up and lost in polite society, like the world
my parents lived in. Mama used to worry her eyes were too
small; and me, I hated myself because my forehead was too
big. It is only now, in Mexico, I realize it doesn't matter.
Peasants have no fear. Even when they laugh at me I can
tell they wish me no harm.
ALEXANDROV
I wish you no harm.
EISENSTEIN
Sometimes one must trust in darkness.
ALEXANDROV
And what of the light? The Revolution gave us light.
EISENSTEIN
So now we have a chance to see if we can create
outside the Revolution, to see if it is possible
to even exist outside of it.
ALEXANDROV
A picture about Mexico is not worth dying for.
What have we done for the workers today? What did
we do yesterday? We stay in comfortable hotels.
We eat the best food. We live like kings. Ten months
in Mexico. This was not what we planned.
EISENSTEIN
Plans change.
ALEXANDROV
Why can you never be satisfied?
EISENSTEIN
One has no choice. One creates or one dies.
ALEXANDROV
Always you want more. More and more and more…
EISENSTEIN
Yes! More. Much more! Because it is too easy to
give up too soon. So many do. So many who are praised.
The world is full of them. They make a parade of
weakness because it answers this one's prejudice
and that one's pride. As if a dash of red paint
might save the day. But if one looks, there is
nothing for the heart. Only sound and effects and
counterfeit anguish which the galleries enshrine
and the critics applaud, as if ambition were worth
the death we all must find. The task of mediocrity
is never short of hands, nor is there bravery in
carelessness. Do you really think we have left Russia
behind? No. Russia is our mother. It is because of
her that I can see where I am. And maybe, if I have
the skill, I can show Russia something of what I
have seen, and Russia herself will be richer for it. One
reaches down into the abyss and takes hold of an idea. If
you are strong enough, then you must do what you can to
reveal it. A revolution must build courage, so that people
will dare to become.
TISSE
And if it breaks your heart?
EISENSTEIN
It is the broken hearts that make all the difference.
ALEXANDROV
A heart that beats for the fulfilment of a Bolshevik
aim can never be broken.
(EISENSTEIN moves closer)
EISENSTEIN
Do you think I cannot see what is in front of my eyes? Do
you think I have lost my mind? The film knows what it needs,
and it will tell me so long as I do not lose my nerve.
ALEXANDROV
I hope you are right, Sergei. Or it will be our skeletons
dangling from a string.
TISSE
So what is it today? Markets or bullfights?
EISENSTEIN
Markets.
ALEXANDROV
(Resigned)
Markets. Always markets.
(HE exits, lugging tripod)
TISSE
You shouldn't be so hard on him.
EISENSTEIN
If I were in his shoes I would feel the same
way. Maybe that's why I scold him.
TISSE
He likes to follow the rules.
EISENSTEIN
He worries too much about his reputation.
TISSE
Because he does not have one.
EISENSTEIN
Maybe Comrade Stalin will give him a medal.
TISSE
Comrade Stalin is capable of anything.
EISENSTEIN
Good thing he likes me.
TISSE
Da, yesterday... but tomorrow?
EISENSTEIN
Then we will impose upon Mr Sinclair to use
his influence.
TISSE
If Comrade Stalin decides to think the worst,
Mr Sinclair will be of little use to us, no
matter how many Russians have read his novels.
EISENSTEIN
There is no victory in cowardice, Eduard.
TISSE
What we do is dangerous.
EISENSTEIN
Because we tell the truth?
TISSE
Because we believe it can be told.
EISENSTEIN
Truth easily told is seldom true.
TISSE
What do we know about the truth? Even when it
stares us in the face we hardly believe it. Dreams.
It is dreams we believe in.
EISENSTEIN
We are the heirs of a difficult age. Shall we
refuse our inheritance? An artist does not live
in his times but by his times. Perhaps the oppressors
will sleep a little less comfortably in their beds
because of what we dream.
TISSE
In Moscow we were treated with respect. Here, we
scratch for every cent and go away like criminals.
EISENSTEIN
Stop torturing yourself.
TISSE
Who are these people, Sergei? Who are we working
for? What kind of alliance is this that we are not
even allowed to see our own rushes?
EISENSTEIN
The rushes belong to the insurance company, and the
insurance company worries about the heat. Even the
Mexicans have to wait. Three have gone to Los Angeles
to make sure we haven't been filming starving children
or secret revolutionary groups. Next thing you know, they'll
be looking over my shoulder in the editing room!
TISSE
Not in Los Angeles, I hope!
EISENSTEIN
Don't worry. Sinclair has promised to send everything to
Moscow just as soon as we have returned. We shall not
grow old in America.
TISSE
Maybe we should tell Comrade Stalin. He will be pleased.
He always enjoyed his visits to your cutting room.
EISENSTEIN
I know. Last time he came with his own pair of scissors,
and we lost thirty-five feet of Trotsky.
TISSE
We lost all of Trotsky!
EISENSTEIN
Except for his back!
TISSE
If only we could lose Mr Kimbrough.
EISENSTEIN
We should take the scissors to him, eh?
TISSE
To which part?
EISENSTEIN
To the part which is costing the most money. He
believes Grisha and I have eyes for each other.
TISSE
He is not what he seems.
EISENSTEIN
He would destroy me if I gave him the chance.
TISSE
I think we have come too far for him to stop us now.
EISENSTEIN
His sister can stop us.
TISSE
Why would she? Why now?
EISENSTEIN
The time. The money.
TISSE
No. They need you. If they stop you now they will
lose everything.
EISENSTEIN
And if they run out of money before we are done?
(They move off)
TISSE
You don’t understand the capitalist mind, Sergei.
So long as they believe they can make money they will
spend money. And to protect the money they have
already spent, they will spend more. Frightening...
but logical.
EISENSTEIN
No wonder they are having a Depression!
(EISENSTEIN and TISSE exit)
(DON VENUS enters. Drawn to
the skeleton - empty eye sockets,
spindly fingers. HE presses his
ear against its chest, listening.
HE takes hold of its hand and
"walks" with it to the other end of
the stage, listens again to its chest,
takes its pulse, then, hearing
someone coming, hurries behind it
to hide)
(ALEXANDROV enters with
tripod. HE stops, looks out at
the audience, then looks over
his shoulder. TISSE enters,
glances round, and indicates
a location for the tripod. DON
VENUS watches from behind
the skeleton. TISSE places the
camera on the tripod and gazes
into the viewfinder. HE pans
slowly from left to right)
(EISENSTEIN enters. HE moves
past TISSE, coming downstage to
gaze out over the audience)
TISSE
What do you see?
EISENSTEIN
Heroes. Nothing but heroes.
TISSE
(To ALEXANDROV)
His love affair with the masses!
EISENSTEIN
One would kill for light like this in Russia.
ALEXANDROV
And still it would be grey.
TISSE
Except in Odessa.
EISENSTEIN
What was the boy's name? The one we used on
the steps?
(DON VENUS comes out from
behind the skeleton)
TISSE
You mean the little goal-keeper.
EISENSTEIN
We must have made two hundred takes.
TISSE
And he never missed the cigarette packet once!
ALEXANDROV
Da! A born-faller.
TISSE
Always in center frame.
ALEXANDROV
I wonder if he knows how famous he's become.
EISENSTEIN
Or if he'll ever be able to forgive us.
(Noticing DON VENUS)
Good god!
ALEXANDROV
What.
EISENSTEIN
Don Venus!
DON VENUS
Con su permiso, senor. ("With your permission, sir.")
EISENSTEIN
The old man. The one I have been telling you about!
(TISSE and ALEXANDROV look
toward the skeleton, then exchange
glances)
(EISENSTEIN goes to DON VENUS
who reaches out his own hand and the
skeleton’s. They shake)
ALEXANDROV
(To TISSE)
You see! The longer we stay, the worse he gets. I tell
you, there is something going on here. Some kind of
brainwashing. I can smell it.
(DON VENUS drops the skeleton’s
hand and taking EISENSTEIN’s
and by the fingertips, turns it over
and studies the back)
TISSE
Last night, I caught a whiff of pulque on his breath.
ALEXANDROV
Maybe he's drunk. Or mad.
TISSE
He never drinks.
ALEXANDROV
Right. I vote for mad.
(DON VENUS releases EISENSTEIN's
hand, and presses his ear to EISENSTEIN’s
chest, listening to his heart)
TISSE
It doesn't make sense.
ALEXANDROV
Nothing makes sense. But don't tell him that.
He'll think we're crazy!
TISSE
He's been talking to an hermaphrodite.
ALEXANDROV
He's falling to pieces.
TISSE
It’s his eccentricity... always drawn to the exotic.
(DON VENUS straightens and beams
at EISENSTEIN)
ALEXANDROV
To freaks, you mean. Hermaphrodites, indeed!
And invisible to boot!
EISENSTEIN
I've been telling them about you. They thought
I was making you up.
DON VENUS
How not!
EISENSTEIN
Comrades, the one who has been helping me. Don Venus.
(They stare back)
DON VENUS
But they cannot see me, senor.
EISENSTEIN
What!
DON VENUS
Blind.
TISSE
Who are you talking to, Sergei?
EISENSTEIN
(To DON VENUS)
You mean…
ALEXANDROV
Something invisible, no doubt.
EISENSTEIN
But he is here!
DON VENUS
Only for you, senor.
TISSE
Are you all right, comrade?
ALEXANDROV
Too much superstition. This is why we had Marx!
EISENSTEIN
(To DON VENUS)
Why me?
DON VENUS
You had need of a guide.
TISSE
What you see is not superstition… it’s imagination!
ALEXANDROV
Stop encouraging him.
EISENSTEIN
What am I becoming?
DON VENUS
Invisible. Like me!
ALEXANDROV
Sergei, we have work to do!
TISSE
We will lose the light.
ALEXANDROV
C’mon, pull yourself together.
EISENSTEIN
But...
DON VENUS
They wait for you. You must go.
EISENSTEIN
When will I see you again?
DON VENUS
A man with desire has only to ask.
EISENSTEIN
But I need you.
DON VENUS
Yes, I know, but do not try to convince
them. I come, senor.
(DON VENUS exits)
(A pause)
ALEXANDROV
Is he gone?
EISENSTEIN
Who?
ALEXANDROV
Your friend.
EISENSTEIN
Do not look so suspicious, Grisha. Do you doubt me?
ALEXANDROV
Only the method.
EISENSTEIN
There is no method.
ALEXANDROV
So it would seem.
TISSE
So then, what’re we filming?
EISENSTEIN
What is in front of the eyes... what is in
front of the eyes and cannot be seen.
ALEXANDROV
That should speed things up.
(Beat)
And this was part of it, yes - what you have
been looking for.
EISENSTEIN
Listening for, Grisha. Listening for!
(HE turns)
Come. There is a marriage.
ALEXANDROV
Terrific.
(They exit)
(KIMBROUGH enters, carrying
a portable adding machine. HE
sets the adding machine on a table,
next to a pile of pen & ink drawings,
then turns, and saunters over to the
skeleton. HE peers into the hollow
eye sockets)
(EISENSTEIN enters, moves to
the table. HE pours through the
stack of drawings; puts one aside,
picks up another, studies it for a
moment and tosses it into a waste
basket. KIMBROUGH turns and
watches as EISENSTEIN continues
to discard and save individual
drawings)
KIMBROUGH
Plannin' our next disappointment?
EISENSTEIN
Mr Kimbrough! I thought you were working in bed today!
KIMBROUGH
I've been thinkin’.
EISENSTEIN
So much for the soporific qualities of alcohol!
KIMBROUGH
(Picks up a drawing)
What’re these?
EISENSTEIN
Drawings.
KIMBROUGH
Of what?
(Holds the drawing at arm's
length, closer, then farther
away; turns it upside-down,
then back again)
EISENSTEIN
What does it look like?
KIMBROUGH
Christ! Is that what I think it is?
EISENSTEIN
Inspiration, Mr Kimbrough.
KIMBROUGH
Looks more like fix-ation.
EISENSTEIN
You find it offensive?
KIMBROUGH
I’m sure it has its uses.
(EISENSTEIN snatches it away)
KIMBROUGH (Continued)
I read th’ script. Helluva travelogue. Rape...
murder... sedition.
EISENSTEIN
It’s not a travelogue, Mr Kimbrough.
KIMBROUGH
No. More of a Biblical epic, ‘cept a Biblical
epic woulda been cheaper.
(Beat)
I brought you a present. It's an addin’ machine.
I figgered you might be needin’ it. It also
divides and subtracts.
EISENSTEIN
You mean, detracts.
(Beat)
And will it tell me how to compose my next shot,
or whether there is enough light?
KIMBROUGH
My sister and Mr Sinclair were under th’ impression
you weren’t gonna spend more than twenty-five
thousand dollars.
EISENSTEIN
That was my estimate.
KIMBROUGH
Well, we seem to have whizzed right past your
estimate some time ago.
EISENSTEIN
I have no control over the weather, Mr Kimbrough.
KIMBROUGH
Or th’ accidents, I gather. What I’m tryin’ to
say is, my sister wants a budget. An’ don't tell
me you don’t know what I’m talkin’ about.
EISENSTEIN
Budgets are none of my business, not where I
come from.
KIMBROUGH
Well, you best make it your business, otherwise
there isn't gonna be any more picture.
EISENSTEIN
You do the budget, Mr Kimbrough. You are the
one who spends the money.
KIMBROUGH
Oh no! I’m not takin’ th’ blame for that one.
EISENSTEIN
Then your sister will have to wait.
KIMBROUGH
No, no... you don’t understand. There’s a
Depression goin' on out there. People are jumpin’
out o’ buildin’s. Hard times are knockin’ at th'
door. Hell, we got two or three investors
who can’t even afford to pay their taxes.
EISENSTEIN
If America had listened to Karl instead of Harpo,
it would not be in this mess.
KIMBROUGH
That’s your answer?
EISENSTEIN
I make movies, not budgets. What do you expect!
That I should make the sun shine twenty-four hours
a day? That I should know magically, without rushes,
what every shot looks like? What kind of genius
is this! It is not enough I seize every opportunity
that comes? What more do you want! This picture
has its own life. I cannot take it where it does
not want to go.
KIMBROUGH
You said twenty-five thousand.
EISENSTEIN
I was passing on what someone told me.
KIMBROUGH
What someone told you! Who told you?
EISENSTEIN
A man. A barber on Sunset Boulevard. An Italian.
KIMBROUGH
My god.
EISENSTEIN
He used to be in cowboy movies in Mexico. The director
always made him play the part of an Indian because he was
Italian. He knew things. So I asked him how much to make
a reasonable picture without sound or stars, and he said for
twenty-thousand dollars he could do it himself with his eyes
closed. So I thought, well, for twenty-five thousand I ought
to be able to make one with my eyes open.
KIMBROUGH
You believed him.
EISENSTEIN
Twenty-five thousand dollars is a lot of money.
KIMBROUGH
Yes, if you’re a barber! Jesus Christ! When I think
of all th’ competent film directors they could’ve
had... an’ they wind up with you!
EISENSTEIN
If competency was all they wanted, they should’ve asked
someone else.
KIMBROUGH
You were th’ one doin’ th’ askin’.
EISENSTEIN
Is there nothing you believe in?
KIMBROUGH
Yeah, I believe in myself.
EISENSTEIN
A blind man.
KIMBROUGH
I see what I see.
EISENSTEIN
With 20/20 ambition.
KIMBROUGH
You're th' one tryin' to make a name for himself
in Hollywood.
EISENSTEIN
I almost feel sorry for you.
KIMBROUGH
You think you live on truth. But you’re wrong.
There ain’t nothin’ there, nothin' but lies;
illusion dressed up as ideology; treachery primped
an’ promenaded in th’ name o’ social justice.
You know what I’m talkin’ about. An’ you know I
know. That's why you avoid me.
(Beat)
Y’know, at first, I just thought you were bein’
thorough, dottin’ th’ "i’s", crossin’ th’ "t’s" -
then I got to thinkin’, no, no, it’s th’ climate - all
this hellish heat an’ vile humidity slows a man down.
Then it occurred to me… maybe you didn’t really think
this was such a bad place after all. Hell, maybe you
liked it too much. But really, it’s a whole lot more
simple than that, now isn’t it? I mean, correct me
if I’m wrong, but I think you’ve stepped into a situation
that’s caught you a bit out o’ your depth...
EISENSTEIN
What is this? A little something to brighten up your day?
KIMBROUGH
You’re playin’ for time.
EISENSTEIN
You don’t know what you’re talking about.
KIMBROUGH
Why’re we still here, then? You don’t know how to finish
this damn picture. Or maybe you don’t wanna finish it
EISENSTEIN
Go back to your adding machine.
KIMBROUGH
Must be awful, losin' your confidence like that.
EISENSTEIN
A film isn’t a piece of sausage. You cannot buy it by the
pound and chop it up any way you like.
(EISENSTEIN and KIMBROUGH
freeze. Looming up against the back
wall, we see the shadows of UPTON
SINCLAIR and MARY CRAIG)
MARY CRAIG
(Off-stage)
I knew I shoulda put my foot down. A real gentleman
would never behave like this.
SINCLAIR
(Off-stage)
Real gentlemen do not indulge in movies, mother.
MARY CRAIG
(Off-stage)
Oh please, anything but that. I am surrounded by clichés.
(Unexpectedly, DON VENUS appears
under the arch. HE pauses, takes in the
scene, then snaps his fingers. SINCLAIR
and MARY CRAIG step out of their
shadows into the room. They pause... )
SINCLAIR
Hunter!
(EISENSTEIN and KIMBROUGH
resume normal motion)
SINCLAIR (Continued)
What’s all this noise? Nothing insurmountable I hope.
KIMBROUGH
He doesn’t listen to a word I say.
EISENSTEIN
Comrade, you must do something.
KIMBROUGH
Whenever I ask him for a budget he laughs in my face.
EISENSTEIN
That’s not true!
KIMBROUGH
How many times has it been now? I stopped countin’.
EISENSTEIN
He’s lying!
SINCLAIR
Gentlemen, please!
KIMBROUGH
I'm jus’ some poor, uneducated niggah as far
as he’s concerned.
EISENSTEIN
Comrade, with all respect...
MARY CRAIG
I don’t think we need that kind of language,
Hunter.
EISENSTEIN
All the time, he is making trouble.
SINCLAIR
Yes, well, we've had a few problems of our own.
MARY CRAIG
Ask him about the schedule, father.
EISENSTEIN
No, no, you don't understand. The man is a
complete dunce. He cannot be trusted. He knows
absolutely nothing about film-making, and even
less about proletarian art!
SINCLAIR
Hunter may be a young society fellow without
revolutionary tendencies, Mr Eisenstein, but
I’ve never known him to be untrustworthy.
EISENSTEIN
The man is a racist. You heard what he said.
KIMBROUGH
Last week he threw a fit 'cos I told him he ate
too much.
EISENSTEIN
At least I do not stay out all night, drinking and
gambling and spending money that should be used on
the film.
MARY CRAIG
What’s he talkin’ about, father?
SINCLAIR
I’m not sure.
KIMBROUGH
Never mind the kind words an’ consideration.
No suh. No sense wastin’ your breath.
(To EISENSTEIN)
You’re just a monkey with a monkey’s attitude
to life.
EISENSTEIN
Tell them about the card games... and the women!
KIMBROUGH
Money disappears through his fingers like steam.
EISENSTEIN
Tell them where it goes!
KIMBROUGH
Th’ man has no sense of th’ value of anything.
Me, I’m just an endless river o’ green.
MARY CRAIG
Did somebody say something about drinking?
EISENSTEIN
Talk to him! He knows what he does.
MARY CRAIG
Hunter, have you been disgracing yourself?
KIMBROUGH
He’d say almost anything t’save his neck.
MARY CRAIG
Answer me! Have you been drinkin’?
KIMBROUGH
What?
MARY CRAIG
You heard what I said.
KIMBROUGH
Mary, I swear...
MARY CRAIG
Tell me th’ truth, Hunter!
KIMBROUGH
You know I wouldn't do anything to embarrass
you an’ Mr Sinclair.
MARY CRAIG
Don’t lie to me!
KIMBROUGH
I’m not lyin’! Yes, all right, I have th’
occasional drink, I surely do. But only for
altitude sickness.
EISENSTEIN
Altitude sickness! Listen to him!
KIMBROUGH
My heart skips a beat every time I take a
breath. Sometimes it’s so bad I can't sleep
at night. It soothes me.
EISENSTEIN
To the point of unconsciousness.
MARY CRAIG
Hush up, Mr Eisenstein!
KIMBROUGH
It’s th’ air, sister. A man can’t hardly
think straight. I have a prescription for it.
(DON VENUS turns and exits)
MARY CRAIG
There, there... you poor baby.
SINCLAIR
I’m sorry, Hunter. We didn’t realize.
EISENSTEIN
You don’t believe him, do you?
KIMBROUGH
You watch y’self, boy!
SINCLAIR
Mr Eisenstein, please!
EISENSTEIN
But you can smell it on him!
MARY CRAIG
I think we’ve had enough unpleasantness.
EISENSTEIN
The man is crazy!
KIMBROUGH
I’d rather work with animals an’ small children.
EISENSTEIN
He is not what he seems, believe me. The last
time we never saw him for five days!
SINCLAIR
All right, Mr Eisenstein, I think you’ve made
your point.
MARY CRAIG
Don’t pay him any mind, child.
EISENSTEIN
Modesty prevents me from telling you where
we finally found him.
KIMBROUGH
You keep your goddamn mouth shut!
MARY CRAIG
Hunter!
SINCLAIR
That’s enough! Now I don't want to hear
another word.
EISENSTEIN
But comrade…
SINCLAIR
Please!
MARY CRAIG
Perhaps Mr Eisenstein's suffering from a bit
of altitude sickness, himself.
KIMBROUGH
Attitude sickness.
SINCLAIR
You do look rather pale. Are you feeling all right?
MARY CRAIG
Maybe he ought to be in bed.
KIMBROUGH
Oh, he’d love that.
EISENSTEIN
Comrade, your brother-in-law may have small faith
in what I do, but you have always believed in me.
Believe me now. The possibilities grow larger
every day.
KIMBROUGH
Expensive possibilities.
SINCLAIR
You assured me it wouldn’t cost a nickel over
twenty-five thousand dollars. You've already shot
nearly six miles of film.
EISENSTEIN
There are no rushes! Everything has to be shot
ten, twenty, thirty times, to make sure it is
not too light or too dark. We cannot re-shoot
once we are back in Moscow.
SINCLAIR
I'm sure you have more than enough, Mr Eisenstein.
MARY CRAIG
We’ve spent nearly ninety thousand dollars.
EISENSTEIN
A miscalculation. The rain... the floods...
KIMBROUGH
Th’ killin’.
SINCLAIR
I understand the difficulties, but at the
rate we’re going there isn’t going to be any
money left to edit the damn thing!
MARY CRAIG
Upton!
SINCLAIR
I’m sorry, mother. I don’t know how else to
say it.
(To EISENSTEIN)
Let me put it to you this way: patience and
honor and human kindness are no longer affordable
luxuries. Bankruptcy’s become a way of life. Do
you have any idea how this makes me feel? I have
been a committed socialist most of my adult life. I’ve done what I could to redress the wrongs
and expose the injustices. Sacco and Vanzetti
never had a truer friend or a more dedicated
defender. I believe in the underdog. But I
live in a capitalist society, and when the banks
take it upon themselves to extend credit for
money they don’t actually possess there’s only
one possible outcome. Everything falls to pieces.
We lose sight of our humanity. The chains of
oppression re-fasten themselves. Oh, I won’t say
the stock market crash horrified me. I expected it.
I welcomed it. I only wish it had come at a more
opportune time. Sir, there’s nothing I’d rather
do than help you make this picture, but we
can’t go on spending money like this. It’s not
mine to spend.
EISENSTEIN
Yes, I know. Papa also married a woman of independent
means.
SINCLAIR
What can I say? It seems to be my fate to live
in the presence of wealth that belongs to others.
EISENSTEIN
It must be very difficult for you.
KIMBROUGH
Guess who his majesty went to for advice
about th’ budget?
SINCLAIR
Hunter, please...
KIMBROUGH
Some dago down on La Cienega.
EISENSTEIN
A man of the people!
KIMBROUGH
A goddamned hairdresser!
MARY CRAIG
Hunter, you know better than to use that sort
o’ language.
KIMBROUGH
I'm tellin’ you, he got his budget from a barber.
SINCLAIR
What!
KIMBROUGH
Over a shave an’ a haircut, our legendary
genius here asked Luigi how much he thought
it’d cost to make a picture down in Mexico.
An’ what was it Luigi said?
EISENSTEIN
His name wasn't Luigi; and he was more than
a barber. He was a philosopher!
KIMBROUGH
Well, I guess that makes it all right.
MARY CRAIG
What’s he talkin’ about, father?
SINCLAIR
Maybe you better sit down.
MARY CRAIG
No, I think I'll stand.
KIMBROUGH
Now he doesn't know how to finish th’ damn thing.
SINCLAIR
Is this true?
EISENSTEIN
Comrade, let me explain...
SINCLAIR
Is that what happened?
MARY CRAIG
P’raps I will sit down.
EISENSTEIN
You don’t understand. In Russia, everything
was done for us.
KIMBROUGH
Some genius.
EISENSTEIN
We make pictures, not account books.
SINCLAIR
You never told me that.
KIMBROUGH
‘Nuther miscalculation.
MARY CRAIG
I knew it.
(DON VENUS re-appears
under one of the arches. HE
leans against the arch. Using
a small knife, HE slices off
pieces of an apple which he
slowly eats as HE watches
and listens)
SINCLAIR
Mr Eisenstein, do you have any idea what you’ve
done? I trusted you.
MARY CRAIG
A glorious dreamer, drawn to lost causes like
a moth to a flame.
SINCLAIR
(Aside to MARY)
It was the meat-packing bosses who were burned.
MARY CRAIG
Poor, forthright, psychologically obtuse Upton.
You always see the best in people.
SINCLAIR
I’m going to have to give this some thought.
EISENSTEIN
Four more weeks, comrade.
KIMBROUGH
You gotta be jokin’.
EISENSTEIN
If we stop now we will lose everything.
SINCLAIR
And if we keep going?
KIMBROUGH
I’d pull th’ plug on th’ whole thing.
MARY CRAIG
How’m I s’pose to be a film producer without
a film?
SINCLAIR
You leave it to me. You’ll have your film.
Now come along, mother. It’s going to be all right. (Takes her hand)
EISENSTEIN
You’ll make your money back. I promise.
KIMBROUGH
You hope.
EISENSTEIN
Please, believe me! Mrs Sinclair! The last
thing I want is to go back to Russia with an
unfinished film.
(SINCLAIR and MARY CRAIG
move off and exit)
KIMBROUGH
Th’ last thing you wanna do is go back, period.
(Pause)
EISENSTEIN
And people wonder why we do not trust capitalism.
KIMBROUGH
Capitalism! Why, without capitalism, you wouldn't
even be here, boy!
EISENSTEIN
You must be a Libran.
KIMBROUGH
Don’t forget th’ budget. An’ a schedule. I’ll
sleep much better with a schedule.
(KIMBROUGH exits)
(DON VENUS spits out a mouthful
of apple, and comes forward)
EISENSTEIN
Sometimes I think the only reason you came
was to lead me astray.
DON VENUS
You were already a stray when I met you.
EISENSTEIN
When you met me I was making a film.
DON VENUS
And now?
EISENSTEIN
Now I am unable to finish.
DON VENUS
Why should you!
EISENSTEIN
They will not let me go on forever.
DON VENUS
Forget about them.
EISENSTEIN
I need them. Without them, I am lost.
DON VENUS
What do you know! The future cries for you.
EISENSTEIN
I think I must finish.
DON VENUS
You think too much. You think finishing is everything.
Like the ones watching in the dark. They only trust
what is dead, and even then they are not so sure.
They want to believe that what is finished is safe. But
to be finished is nothing. What is important is to escape.
EISENSTEIN
Escape from what?
DON VENUS
The past, senor.
EISENSTEIN
You mean defect?
DON VENUS
Defect is when you choose to be a slave instead
of what you are. The film is only to help you
catch the fish.
EISENSTEIN
You talk in riddles, old man.
DON VENUS
It is more than a film you are making, senor. And you
are the fish.
EISENSTEIN
Why do you do this? You fill my head. You
give me no rest. Where does it end?
DON VENUS
There is no end!
(Pause)
EISENSTEIN
So now we come to torment.
DON VENUS
Easy to find, but I do not think it will take
you where you want to go.
EISENSTEIN
(Absently)
Platform five.
DON VENUS
As your guide, I do not suggest it.
EISENSTEIN
And what do you suggest?
(DON VENUS throws his arms
around EISENSTEIN, whose arms
remain uncomfortably at his side.
HE releases his hold, and looks up
into EISENSTEIN's eyes)
EISENSTEIN (Continued)
Is that it?
DON VENUS
(Wagging his finger)
The rest you will not believe. Not yet.
(DON VENUS turns, distracted.
HE stares at the audience)
Can you see them?
EISENSTEIN
Yes.
DON VENUS
It is better not to look.
(Beat)
I come.
(HE moves off)
EISENSTEIN
Don Venus!
(DON VENUS turns)
EISENSTEIN
What is to become of you… when I am done?
DON VENUS
Someone will have need of me.
EISENSTEIN
What will you do?
DON VENUS
Rest. And then... another painting.
(CHABELA enters)
CHABELA
Maestro?
(EISENSTEIN and DON VENUS
turn)
CHABELA (Continued)
They have arrested Senor Balderas. You must do
something. They are saying that he murdered Rosa.
EISENSTEIN
Who says?
CHABELA
The police.
EISENSTEIN
This is ridiculous! He is innocent!
DON VENUS
Not in Mexico.
CHABELA
No, senor. A poor man is never innocent.
EISENSTEIN
But there has been no trial.
CHABELA
They do not need a trial to lock him up, senor.
DON VENUS
Nor for the firing squad!
CHABELA
You must go to the judge. He is the only
one who can help. Talk to him. He will listen.
He believes you are important.
DON VENUS
He does not listen to peasants.
EISENSTEIN
He will listen to me. And he will hear the truth.
CHABELA
The truth is not what he wants, senor.
DON VENUS
He wants to be like you.
CHABELA
He wants to have what you have.
EISENSTEIN
What I have?
(DON VENUS rubs his fingers
together - hand-sign for money)
CHABELA
It is a poor country, senor. My people watch
the way Senor Kimbrough throws his money away
in the cantina. They would like to throw money,
too.
EISENSTEIN
You mean… bribe.
CHABELA
It will help him see true.
EISENSTEIN
Is the truth so difficult to see?
CHABELA
It is Mexico, senor. Truth is whatever fills
the belly. The rest is tomorrow’s hunger.
(Pause)
EISENSTEIN
How much?
DON VENUS
Enough to show respect.
(CHABELA shrugs)
EISENSTEIN
I will speak to Mr Kimbrough.
CHABELA
No, maestro. He has no feeling. Only you.
You are the only hope Senor Balderas has.
If the judge likes you, or if he fears you,
you may not have to pay. But you must
go to him, senor. In the morning.
EISENSTEIN
Yes. All right. Tomorrow!
(Beat)
Only tomorrow we have the Revolution.
DON VENUS
So, the revolution will have to wait.
EISENSTEIN
So the Revolution will have to wait.
(Beat)
Do not fear, Chabela. I will help him. Everything will be
all right. I will go in the morning.
CHABELA
You are a good man, senor.
EISENSTEIN
Not all of us are like Mr Kimbrough.
KIMBROUGH
(Off-stage)
Mr Eisenstein! Mr Eisenstein, are you there?
CHABELA
He is coming, I must go.
EISENSTEIN
No!
KIMBROUGH
(Off-stage)
I know you're there. Why don't you answer me?
EISENSTEIN
Drunk again. Always drunk.
KIMBROUGH
Damn! Can’t you hear me?
(HE enters)
You deaf or what? I coulda done myself an injury.
(Beat)
Well, well, well… what’s she doin’ here? No,
let me guess.
EISENSTEIN
She has come to tell me about the trouble with Senor
Balderas.
KIMBROUGH
What about him?
EISENSTEIN
He has been imprisoned.
KIMBROUGH
I’ll pray for him.
EISENSTEIN
And pay for him. He is our responsibility.
KIMBROUGH
Ours?
EISENSTEIN
Yes. He is one of my actors.
KIMBROUGH
Not anymore he isn’t.
EISENSTEIN
I hired him.
KIMBROUGH
An’ now he’s un-hired, ‘long with everybody
else, her included.
DON VENUS
(To EISENSTEIN)
He has the moon in his head, senor.
EISENSTEIN
He has no head at all!
KIMBROUGH
What!
CHABELA
I should go.
KIMBROUGH
Good idea. Get yerself a real job.
EISENSTEIN
(Grabbing her arm)
Wait!
(To KIMBROUGH)
Why do you do this?
KIMBROUGH
Everything comes to an end sooner or later.
EISENSTEIN
Not until we have filmed the Revolution, it doesn’t!
KIMBROUGH
Well, I guess we’re just gonna have to dispense
with th’ Revolution.
EISENSTEIN
Without the Revolution we have no ending.
KIMBROUGH
Wake up, boy! The Revolution’s come and gone.
EISENSTEIN
Why can’t you people let me finish in peace?
KIMBROUGH
(To CHABELA)
He thinks I'm drunk.
EISENSTEIN
You know what we have to do.
KIMBROUGH
I know what I have to do.
EISENSTEIN
Go back where you belong.
KIMBROUGH
Wild horses won’t stop me.
EISENSTEIN
Your sister will have her budget by the end
of the month.
KIMBROUGH
P’raps I haven’t made myself clear. You’re fired.
DON VENUS
(To EISENSTEIN)
I think you have need of another miracle, senor.
EISENSTEIN
I don’t think so.
KIMBROUGH
Thinkin’s got nothin’ to do with it. From now
on, th’ only thing my sister's puttin’ her
money into is a safety deposit box.
EISENSTEIN
We will see about that.
KIMBROUGH
Yeah, well, in the meantime I suggest you
start packin’.
DON VENUS
(To EISENSTEIN)
He must have stomach ache.
KIMBROUGH
I ‘spect you'll be takin’ th’ Chevy. I’ve
arranged transit visas for you an’ your friends...
You got two weeks to get to New York. I s’pose
you can manage that, long as you drive faster
than you make movies.
EISENSTEIN
Thank you, Mr Kimbrough. Only I am not going
anywhere. Now, if you will excuse me...?
KIMBROUGH
Stubborn to th’ end. I imagine you could even
get yourself arrested if you tried.
EISENSTEIN
Another one of your projects, I suppose.
KIMBROUGH
My only project is getting’ the hell outta
here... Don’t linger, Mr Eisenstein... it won’t
do you any good.
(To CHABELA)
G’day, Miss.
(Exits)
CHABELA
What does he mean, senor?
EISENSTEIN
It is nothing. Less than nothing. He blows up,
we have Two weeks of peace. Tomorrow he will be
drunk again.
DON VENUS
He is not well.
CHABELA
(To EISENSTEIN)
Maybe Mexico is not such a good place for
you, senor.
EISENSTEIN
You doubt me?
CHABELA
I watch you. The way you hide.
EISENSTEIN
What do you know about hiding?
DON VENUS
I think I must go… there is a picture…
(Exits)
CHABELA
The Spanish missionaries made their churches
on top of our ancient temples. They hoped it
would make it easier for us to pray to their god.
But we had our own gods, and we hid our sacred
objects where they would never look, inside
their Catholic altars. So when they
saw us there, they believed we were praying
to the Cross... but it was not so.
(Beat)
When one is frightened, one hides.
(EISENSTEIN takes hold of
CHABELA's hand. A moment,
interrupted by the arrival of
ALEXANDROV and TISSE)
TISSE
Comrade! Comrade, we have trouble!
EISENSTEIN
Yes, yes, I know.
TISSE
You know?
EISENSTEIN
Do not worry about it, Eduard.
ALEXANDROV
We have no choice now.
EISENSTEIN
Pay him no mind. We have been through this
a hundred times. He is only trying to frighten
us.
TISSE
He has done a very good job of it.
EISENSTEIN
He has done nothing but interfere. A one hundred percent,
American idiot! I am finished taking orders from him.
TISSE
Who?
EISENSTEIN
Who!? Who are you talking about?
ALEXANDROV
I think you’d better read this, comrade.
(Holding out an envelope)
EISENSTEIN
What is it?
TISSE
A cablegram.
EISENSTEIN
From Sinclair?
ALEXANDROV
Not from... to! Read it.
(Pause)
EISENSTEIN
No. You. You read it, Eduard.
(TISSE takes the envelope,
extracts the cablegram)
TISSE
(Reading slowly)
"EISENSTEIN LOOSE HIS COMRADES CONFIDENCE IN
SOVIET UNION STOP HE IS THOUGHT TO BE A
DESERTER WHO BROKE WITH HIS COUNTRY STOP
AM AFRAID THE PEOPLE HERE WILL HAVE NO INTEREST
IN HIM STOP AM VERY SORRY BUT ALL ASSERT
IT IS A FACT STOP WISH YOU TO BE WELL STOP
MY REGARDS STOP... STALIN"
ALEXANDROV
One can almost feel the noose around the neck.
EISENSTEIN
I believe they are using firing squads these days.
ALEXANDROV
You should not make jokes.
EISENSTEIN
I did not intend it to be funny.
TISSE
Boys, please! It will do no good to argue.
EISENSTEIN
You seem almost happy, Grisha.
ALEXANDROV
We should have gone back months ago.
TISSE
Sergei...
EISENSTEIN
No!
(Pause)
ALEXANDROV
I am going to pack.
(HE exits)
(Solo violin music fades up.
TISSE presses the cablegram into
EISENSTEIN's hand, lingers, then
exits)
CHABELA
What does it mean... "loose confidence"?
EISENSTEIN
I feel like dancing. Will you dance with me?
(They dance: a waltz, round and
round. EISENSTEIN stumbles,
reaches up, grabs hold of his chest.
HE pushes CHABELA away)
CHABELA
Senor! Senor, what is wrong!
(HE staggers forward, turning to
the audience, hand outstretched)
CHABELA (Continued)
Senor! Please! Someone, help!
EISENSTEIN
Totya.
(Louder)
Totya!
(BLACKOUT)
END ACT 1