Storm A-Brewin'

Patrick as Legree and William as George

     My tears dropped onto the final pages of Mrs. Stowe’s book. Little Eva, the angel of the story, had died surrounded by her family, and by Tom, who had become her dearest friend. Topsy, who had now become a good child, had clasped a lock of one of Eva’s little curls, grieving along with Tom and the others. In the final scene, Tom, too, had died. I had been unprepared for such a sorrowful ending.

     “But what happened to Topsy?” I asked as I wiped away my tears. 

     “Well, there is much more to the story,” William replied. “The full work is far too long for you to read to prepare for tonight’s performance, but Topsy accepts Christ and makes a promise to be good. She becomes a missionary and moves to Africa to help our people there. But that is not shown in our story.” His look darkened as he paused and closed the book. 

     “Our production ends with a narrator providing a coda to the story and its characters,” William said in a cheerless voice. “The character of George, the heroic slave, is much reduced. I play both characters. I have been talking to Patrick about some changes—.”  

     “Changes, William?” Patrick had suddenly appeared. He had made his inquiry with a distasteful expression. “You don’t want ‘changes,’ my boy. You want to rewrite the entire play.” From William’s look, I surmised that this had been a longstanding disagreement between the two.

     “Not the entire play,” William responded. “But we must make the character of Harris more prominent. And we must make Tom less…less servile.”

     “No!” Patrick O’Carroll retorted. “We must give the audience what it wants. They want Tom, they want Topsy, and we will give them what they want!”

     “You go now, Mel,” William said, his olive skin reddening with anger, “and practice your tumbling.” As I headed away, William stood and spun toward Patrick. His face betrayed extreme agitation. An unpleasant and somewhat raucous argument followed, with oaths and odious curses traded by both men. I thought they might come to blows!

[TO BE CONTINUED.]