Scene Seven–
Mrs Cage’s Art & Crafts store, Los Angeles, 1933
Xenia I hope
this store has what I need for my course. Let me think. (ticks things off on her fingers) Soft pencils, turpentine, good
brushes…
Enter John Cage, shop assistant (played by one of the sisters)
Xenia John! What
are you doing here? Sasha said there should be no famous people in this play!
John But it’s only 1933. I’m not at all famous, not yet.
Xenia Neither
should there be any men.
John Well,
what am I meant to do about that? Cut me a bit of slack Xenia, please.
Xenia I suppose
I might, for now. Just out of curiosity.
John You do
remember this scene?
Xenia Unfortunately,
I remember it very well.
John Shall we
begin again?
Xenia If you
insist.
John Would you
care to go off and re-enter?
Xenia Not
particularly. Just get on with it.
John turns
away, then back to face her.
John Good
afternoon miss. Can I be of any assistance?
Xenia Thank you,
but I require no assistance whatever.
John That’s
such a shame, we have so much to offer. We stock absolutely everything a talented artist
like yourself could possibly need, from stretched canvas to hog-hair artists’
brushes.
Xenia I want sable, not hog-hair.
John Ok. We’ve
got those somewhere, but they will cost you. Folk can’t afford much in these
recessionary times, there’s no demand for sable brushes.
Xenia I need
three. I’m studying art at Reed College.
John That’s
marvellous. I’m a student too, I study music. I just work in the store to help
out as I’m between tutors right now.
Xenia A musician. Any particular variety of music?
John Modern,
absolutely modern, but not jazz. I’m working on a bunch of my own compositions
right now, some piano pieces.
Xenia I play
piano.
John I’m sure
you’re absolutely excellent.
Xenia I would be
if I could only practice more.
John Absolutely,
you must practice. It’s essential for a musician to know what they’re doing,
even if they then want to break the rules.
Xenia I see. So
you like breaking rules?
John The
classical stuff has been absolutely done to death, I need to be original. I
want to break down barriers between musical performance and everyday sounds.
Xenia Experimental
music. I see.
Pause
John But I
don’t mean to denigrate your tastes. And you must practice, it’s so important.
Xenia It’s
difficult to practice. Right now I don’t have my own piano, my cottage is too
small. Sometimes I visit my friend Gretchen’s house. They’re very wealthy, they
have a good Steinway grand which I play.
John (slowly) You play on Gretchen’s Steinway?
Xenia I believe
that’s what I said.
John Absolutely!
How many Gretchens are there in LA, do you think?
Xenia Oh, quite
a few I should imagine, only she doesn’t live in LA. We were at Monterey High
together and they have a marvellous house above Carmel Bay.
John Not so
many Gretchens in Carmel.
Xenia I wouldn’t
know. But I’ll bet you she’s the only one with a Steinway.
John I’m
certain she is. I’ve played on that Steinway too.
Xenia I beg your
pardon?
John When I’m
in Carmel, I play on Gretchen’s Steinway, just like you do.
Xenia Well
that’s a new chat up line. I certainly don’t believe a word of it!
John I’m not
actually… er… (pause) Listen, perhaps
an introduction is in order. My name is John Cage, this is my mother’s store,
she set this up to help impoverished artists. I help out when I’m in town.
Xenia I am Xenia
Kashevaroff. Pleased to meet you, John Cage.
They shake
hands.
John And I’m
delighted to meet you, Miss Kashevaroff. You are absolutely the loveliest young
woman who has ever walked into this store.
Xenia Now that’s
a much better line. Please do continue.
John And
plenty of beautiful people do come in here. Artists bring their models, and
models bring their artists. Teachers bring their students and students bring
their lovers. I’m not saying which might be the woman in any case. And, Xenia
Kashevaroff, you outshine them all! If I were to be the marrying kind, you
would absolutely be the kind woman I would want to marry.
Xenia (with an
exaggerated Southern US accent)
Why Mister Cage, without that kinda noticeable little word, ‘if’, I’d say you
were being kinda hasty.
John But how
much less fun conversation would be without a few ‘ifs’! Don’t you agree?
Xenia I might
need some convincing of that. Ifs can be confusing, though I do have more of a
problem with buts.
John Okay. (pause)
Returning to ifs, if your friend Gretchen, with the Steinway piano, turned out
to be the very same Gretchen as my friend Gretchen, with the Steinway piano,
would that be kind of convincing?
Xenia That would
be very amusing. But how could we possibly prove it, without going all the way
to Carmel?
John We can
absolutely resolve the whole thing. If you care to tell me your friend
Gretchen’s surname, I can then tell you if it’s the same as my friend
Gretchen’s surname.
Xenia Oh no you don’t John Cage! I’m
absolutely not caught out so easily!
Xenia So?
I don’t believe we’ve come to so’s, but I can reply with a positive and. And
my friend’s name is also Gretchen Schoeninger.
my friend’s name is also Gretchen Schoeninger.
Pause
John And
Gretchen’s little white dog howls when I play her piano.
Xenia Ands
are certainly doing well. What is your opinion of howevers? I need to
use one just about now.
use one just about now.
John I’m
broadly in favour. I believe I actually used a ‘however’ a bit earlier in this
very conversation, when I paid you a compliment.
Xenia I
can’t say I noticed.
John And
you are absolutely free to use however or whatever takes your fancy
Xenia I
wouldn’t call it a fancy. However, Gretchen’s little white dog certainly does not
howl when I play the piano.
John And
you probably play far more beautifully than I do.
Xenia If
I confess to Schubert, would that tempt you to confess to the sort of
music which you play, on Gretchen’s piano?
music which you play, on Gretchen’s piano?
John That
is definitely a confession! I play my own experimental compositions.
Xenia I
kind of thought you might. What does that sound like, to make the poor
puppy howl?
puppy howl?
John It’s
modern atonal stuff, less Schubert, more Schoenberg.
Xenia I
don’t exactly know who that is.
John Miss
Kashevaroff, would you care to be enlightened?
Xenia Well
I do declare, Mister Cage, I never heard it called that before.
John I
never meant… oh what the heck! (offering
his arm) Miss Kashevaroff, would
you care to find someplace really nice to sit and partake of a soda? I could
then enlighten you.
you care to find someplace really nice to sit and partake of a soda? I could
then enlighten you.
Xenia (taking
his arm) Why Mister Cage, that
sounds most enlightening.
They
walk towards the exit arm in arm, then they stop.
Xenia Oh
Bunny, of course it wasn’t terrible.
John And
will you ever forgive me?
Xenia I
don’t suppose so. Not for one single moment.
They
exit together.
I'm building my John cage page at musicdna.info and I came across this looking for details about Xenia Kashevaroff - I loved it!
ReplyDeleteThanks John. It's an extract from a longer play.
ReplyDeleteYou may want to have look at on this blog again at the end of August when I intend to post a biography of Xenia, to coincide with her birthday. Several of the artists I write about on the blog were also friends of John Cage.