Life, 1920-07-08 · page 15 of 40
Life — July 8, 1920 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents a one-act play satirizing pretentious symbolist theater (specifically referencing Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck, known for mysterious, allegorical works). The plot depicts a family's chaotic homecoming at a seaside cottage: toads emerge from a hole, water leaks catastrophically, plaster falls, and domestic panic ensues. The dialogue is deliberately overwrought and self-serious despite mundane domestic disasters. The satire mocks early 20th-century avant-garde theater's affectation—treating ordinary household problems as profound symbolic drama. Two accompanying illustrations show the family's comedic distress (one illustration depicts a "spiritualistic wife" making absurd pronouncements about a car purchase). The humor targets both pretentious playwrights and the intellectual audiences who took such obscure symbolism seriously.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Le Retour A Maeterlinckian Drama (4 cottage near the sea. The doors and windows are shut; the grass is unkempt. Dark clouds partially obscure the sun, which is about to set. In the distance, a small railway station. The Father, the Mother, Little Gertrude and Little Harold are discovered approaching by a sandy road; they carry heavy bags and baskets.) HE FATHER: At last we are here. On such a hot day, it seems a long walk. Littte Harotp: Our father is kicking the door. . . . Let us help! We are pushing. We are pushing. . Tue Fatner: Take care! Take care! (He falls suddenly to his knees, as the door opens.) Tue Motner: Oh, oh! Did you fall? Tue Fatuer (rising and regarding her strange- ly): ~ - Tue Motuer (shuddering): You must not say that! Littte Gertrupe: How damp it smells in there! Let us open the windows. . . . When we first come, it is always so hard to open the windows. . Tue Fatner (bringing a long iron water-key from the interior of the house and descending the steps): 1 am going to turn on the Littte Harowo: Here is the hole. deep it is! Oh, oh, oh! There is a toad in the hole! One, two, three, four, . . . five, SIX, 2. ! Tue Fatue Seven toads? Seven? Tue Motuer: Why have they come here to sleep? Do not hurt them! Are they all alive, all seven? rn—seven toads! “YOU'D BETTER LOOK OUT, DADDY, IT’S ALMOST UP TO MY NECK” Tue Fatner: Yes, yes, yes; the seven toads are leaving the hole... . 1 frightened them. . . . They are hopping away . Lhave turned on the water. It is late. . . Letus goin. . . There is much to be done Lefore it grows dark. (They enter the cottage.) Livtte Harotp: When do we eat? I am hungry! Lrrtte Gerteuve: And 1! And I! Tue Mortner: It seems to me that 1 sound of water. . . . Oh, oh, oh! Water is drop- ping from above! What have you done? Tue Fatner: It is not my fault! It is not my fault! How could I know that the rust had eaten into the pipes, in the winter, while we were in the city? Limtte Harotp: Oh, oh, oh! All the plaster is falling, . . . the plaster and the water, - on the stairway! Littte Gertruoe: On me, too! On aa : me, too! All! All! All! SG saan Olan 2+ Tue Morner: Turn off the water! Turn off the water! Spiritualistic Wife: WEAR THAT KNOCKING, JOUN! IT LUST BE A SPIRIT! Tue Fatner: Do not stand there and “ YES, IT'S THE SPIRIT OF THE CROOK THAT SOLD ME THIS C ar!” say that any more! I am turning it off! comicbooks.com