AustLit

Characters

Agnes Tarrant: middle-aged, private secretary, hon. secretary of a women's organisation.

Honey: 18-22, switch-girl, receptionist.

Rick Sinclair: the new business manager.

 Rosalie Mayne: 19, daughter of Mr Mayne of Mayne Textiles pty. ltd. 

Junior office girl.

Electrician.

The president of a women's organisation.

The hon. treasurer of a women's organisation.

Agnes should always wear the same dress - neat black with white collar, but adds a frilly collar and notable hat for Scenes 1, 3. Honey wears a uniform skirt and blouse, but achieves differences as indicated in script, to add to the sense of passage of time. Junior office Girl should wear the same skirt and blouse as Honey.

Set

Scene 1: Before the curtain. The Presidential table before the Conference of the Women's Freedom Society Conference. (Suggesting the audience as the body of the Conference.)

Scene 2: A series of flashabacks. The office of Mayne Textiles Pty. Ltd.

Scene 3: As Scene 1.

Entered in Ipswich Little Theatre Centenary Competition, 1959. Tied first place with Marian Dreyer, Sydney.

Notes on the floor plan for Scene 2:

The clock and calendar are very important in this scene, and should be large enough to be seen to back of hall, even when the new smaller clock is introduced. The calendar in use at first could be a cumbersome arrangement of painted boards to hand on cup-hooks; the new one might be large cards fitting into a box on wall - as used by the Commonwealth Bank.

The office should be vaguely old-fashioned, efficiency is due to Agnes' discipline rather than automation.

The switch is purposely partly obscured by Honey's desk. Honey should remember to use it during moments when she is not involved in action of the play.

(Note - don't use a striking or chiming clock.)