Overview
- Female: 1
- Male: 1
Context
George has asked Martha to dinner, although he was not sure if she would come. He met her at his father’s political rally and knows that she opposes everything his father stands for. Despite their political estrangement, George is attracted to Martha and it is, reluctantly, reciprocated. Martha is acerbic and confrontational, but if she did not want to be there, she wouldn’t have shown up in the first place…
_ Editor’s Note: This scene leads into the duet “Did You Ever Meet?”_
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GEORGE, JR. You came after all.
MARTHA ALBRIGHT I have no idea why.
GEORGE, JR. Please, have a seat.
MARTHA ALBRIGHT What’s on your mind, assuming you have one?
GEORGE, JR. I thought part of being intelligent is being thoughtful.
MARTHA ALBRIGHT I came, didn’t I?
GEORGE, JR. I just want to know why you feel the way you do about my daddy. It breaks my heart to hear the misconceptions that liberals hurl at him.
MARTHA ALBRIGHT The misconceptions may not be located where you think they are.
GEORGE, JR. I think I know quite well where they’re located.
MARTHA ALBRIGHT I never debate self-evident truths.
GEORGE, JR. What makes you so sure you’re right about him?
MARTHA ALBRIGHT It’s my profession to know what can be known about right from wrong. I’m an ethicist.
GEORGE, JR. Oh, an academic. I’ll bet you’re a liberal, too, if not a lefty.
MARTHA ALBRIGHT I’m a progressive. I know the first people to be silenced in a totalitarian state are the ones who might have something interesting to say.
GEORGE, JR. Then you believe in freedom?
MARTHA ALBRIGHT Of course. I also believe in sunlight.
GEORGE, JR. I just don’t know how you reconcile that with being a progressive?
MARTHA ALBRIGHT How tough is it to imagine a country that frees its citizens to do their best while it funds social programs that put a secure floor under all of them? Sounds like the basic requirement of a civilized society to me.
GEORGE, JR. Oh, well, then, would you like a drink?
MARTHA ALBRIGHT Thanks. I need one. (Motions to waiter)
GEORGE, JR. What would you like? My treat.
MARTHA ALBRIGHT I’ll pay for my own, thanks. A glass of chardonnay.
(Waiter arrives and hears her)
GEORGE, JR. A shot of Jim Beam, straight up. .
(Waiter departs)
GEORGE, JR. (CONT’D) You’re an interesting woman.
MARTHA ALBRIGHT Thank you. If only you were an interesting man.
GEORGE, JR. How thoughtful is that?
MARTHA ALBRIGHT What do you need more than insight? Do you know what this country needs but hardly ever gets? A leader who’s worthy of its promise.
GEORGE, JR. Do you see any redeeming qualities in me at all?
MARTHA ALBRIGHT You’re not quite as unattractive as you ought to be.
GEORGE, JR. Woo-hoo! As a matter of fact, neither are you. I suppose there’s no immediate chance that you’d have dinner with me?
MARTHA ALBRIGHT That’s the only perceptive thing I’ve heard you say.
GEORGE, JR. Oh, come on. Politics isn’t everything.
MARTHA ALBRIGHT It is between us.
GEORGE, JR. But aren’t people supposed to overcome their political differences and, ah, find common ground?
MARTHA ALBRIGHT I’m sure anything between us would be quite common.
GEORGE, JR. How inestimably kind.
MARTHA ALBRIGHT Sorry, but what else would you expect?
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