The Entertainer

Act One

Scene 1

In a faded boarding house, sounds of domestic violence are heard in one of the rooms. Billy Rice attempts to quell the noise but he is rebuffed by an offstage voice. Going into his own apartment, he moans about the Polish and Irish immigrants who live in the house. He has not long sat down, when his granddaughter, Jean, knocks on the door. He welcomes her, still moaning about the noise and chaos in the house. Billy tells her that the landlady has rented out her brother Mick’s old room to “some black fellow”. He advises that Phoebe is at the cinema again. Billy rarely goes out these days, only venturing out for a walk or to go to the club where he sometimes sings some of the old songs to entertain the other men. When Jean asks where her father is, Billy tells her that he is performing at The Grand. However, it is clear that Billy disapproves of her father’s act; vaudeville is dying and he relies upon semi-naked women to bring in an audience. Billy advised his son to get