Tell All

ACT II, SCENE ONE

Katherine Kentoncontinues reading as voice-over. At first we continue to hear the soundsof the park, the clip-clopping ofhorse-drawn carriages and the calliope music of the carousel, but thesesounds gradually fade. At the same time we dissolve to show Miss Kathieand Webster Carlton Westward III lounging inher bed. In voice-over we still hear Miss Kathie’s voice reading, anaudio bridge from the preceding scene: “ ‘… On the final day of Katherine Kenton’s life, she dressed with particularcare.’ ”

Reading from the “lie-ography” written byWebb, the voice-over continues, “ ‘Our lovemaking felt more poignant.Seemingly for no special reason the muscles of her lovely, seasonedvagina clung to the meaty shaft of my love, milking the last passionatejuices. A vacuum, like some haunting metaphor, had already formedbetween our wet, exhausted surfaces, our mouths, our skin and privates,requiring an extra force of effort for us to tear ourselves asunder.’ ”

Continuing to read from the final chapter of Love Slave, MissKathie’s voice-over says, “ ‘Even our arms and legs were reluctant tounknot themselves, to untangle from the snarl of moistened bedclothes.We lay glued together by the adhesive qualities of our spent fluids. Ourshared being pasted into becoming a single living organism. The copioussecretions held us as a second skin while we embraced in the lingeringebb of our sensuous copulations.’ ”

Through heavy star filters, the boudoir sceneappears hazy. Almost as if dense fog or mist fills the bedroom. Bothlovers move in dreamy slow motion. After a beat, we see that the bedroomis Miss Kathie’s but the man and woman are younger, idealized versionsof Webster and Katherine. Like dancers, they rise and groom—the womanbrushing her hair and rolling stockings up her legs, the man popping hiscuffs, inserting cuff links, and brushing lint from his shoulders—withthe exaggerated, stylized gestures of Agnes de Milleor Martha Graham.

Miss Kathie’s voice, reading, says, “ ‘Onlythe beckoning prospect of dinner reservations at the CubRoom, a shared repast of lobster thermidorand steak Diane in the scintillating company of Omar Sharif, Alla Nazimova, Paul Robeson, LillianHellman and Noah Beery coaxed us torise and dress for the exciting evening ahead.’ ”

As the voice-over continues, the loversdress. They seem to orbit each other, continuing to fall into eachother’s embrace, then straying apart.

“ ‘Donning a BrooksBrothers double-breasted tuxedo,’ ” the voice-over reads, “ ‘Icould envision an infinite number of such evenings stretching into ourshared future of love. Leaning close to tie my white bow tie, Katherinesaid, “You have the largest, most gifted penis of any man alive.” Irecall the moment distinctly.’ ”

The voice-over continues, “ ‘Inserting awhite orchid in my buttonhole, Katherine said, “I would die without youplumbing my salty depths.”

“ ‘In retrospect, I think,’ ” Miss Kathie’svoice-over says, “ ‘ “If only that were true.” ’ ” As the idealized Katherine and Webster caresseach other, the voice-over says, “ ‘I fastened the back of her enticingValentino frock, offering my arm to guide herfrom the bedchamber, down the steps of her elegant residence to thebusy street, where I might engage a passing conveyance.’ ”

The idealized lovers seem to float from theboudoir down the town house stairs, hand in hand, floating through thefoyer and down the porch steps to the sidewalk. In contrast to theirlanguid movements, the street traffic rushes past with ominous roars,motortrucks and taxicabs, blurred with speed.

“ ‘As the stream of vehicles whizzed pastus,’ ” the voice-over reads, “ ‘almost invisible in their high velocity,I sank to one knee on the curb.’ ”

The idealized Webb kneels before theidealized Miss Kathie.

“ ‘Taking her limpid hand, I ask if she—themost glorious queen of theatrical culture—would consider wedding me, amere presumptuous mortal.…’ ”

In soft-focus slow motion, the idealized Webblifts the hand of the idealized Katherine until the long, smoothfingers meet his pursed lips. He plants a kiss on the fingers, the backof the hand, the palm.

The voice-over continues, “ ‘At that momentof our tremendous happiness, my beloved Katherine—the only great idealof the twentieth century—stumbled from the treacherous curbstone …’ ”

In real time, we see the flash of a chromebumper and radiator grille. We hear brakes screech and tires squeal. Ascream rings out.

“ ‘… falling,’ ” the voice-over reads, “‘directly into the deadly path of a speeding omnibus.’ ”

Still reading from Love Slave, Miss Kathie’s voice-over says, “‘The end.’ ”

Bark, moo, meow …Final curtain. Growl, roar, oink… Fade to black.