{"product_id":"2940016070162","title":"Wappin' Wharf","description":"Wappin' Wharf\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e_CHARACTERS_\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE DUKE\u003cbr\u003ePATCH-EYE\u003cbr\u003eTHE CAPTAIN\u003cbr\u003eRED JOE\u003cbr\u003eDARLIN'\u003cbr\u003eBETSY\u003cbr\u003eOLD MEG\u003cbr\u003eSAILOR CAPTAIN\u003cbr\u003eTHREE SAILORS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSETTING: For details of Stage Set turn to pages 35-6-7.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e_A PROLOGUE TO BE SPOKEN BY BETSY_\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e_Our scene is the wind-swept coast of Devon. By day there is a wide\u003cbr\u003estretch of ocean far below, and the abutments of our stage arise from\u003cbr\u003ea dizzy cliff._\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e_The time is remote, and ships of forgotten build stand out from\u003cbr\u003eBristol in full sail for the mines of India. But we must be loose and\u003cbr\u003efree of precise date lest our plot be shamed by broken fact. A\u003cbr\u003ethousand years are but as yesterday. We make but a general gesture to\u003cbr\u003ethe dim spaces of the past._\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e_The village of Clovelly climbs in a single street--a staircase,\u003cbr\u003ereally--and it is fagged and out of breath half way. But far above, on\u003cbr\u003ea stormy crag, clinging by its toes, there stands a pirates' hut. To\u003cbr\u003ethis topmost ledge fishwives sometimes scramble by day; but when a\u003cbr\u003ewind shall search the crannies of the night, then no villager would\u003cbr\u003edare to climb so high._\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e_You will seek today in vain the pirates' cabin. Since the adventure\u003cbr\u003eof our play a thousands tempests have snarled across these rocks. You\u003cbr\u003emust convince your reason that these pinnacles of yesteryear, toppled\u003cbr\u003edown by storm, lie buried in the sea._\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e_We had hoped that our drama's scene might lie on a pirate ship at\u003cbr\u003esea. We had wished for a swaying mast, full-set with canvas--a typhoon\u003cbr\u003eto smother our stage in wind. We had hoped to walk a victim off the\u003cbr\u003eplank, with the sea roaring in the wings. But our plot deals\u003cbr\u003estubbornly with us. Alas, our pirates grow old and stiff. They have\u003cbr\u003eretired, as we say, from active practice and live in easy luxury on\u003cbr\u003eshore. Yet we shall see that their villany still thrives._\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e_How shall we select a name for our frightful play? There is a wharf\u003cbr\u003ein London that is known as Wapping. In these days that we call the\u003cbr\u003epresent it has sunk to common use and its rotten timbers are piled\u003cbr\u003ewith honest unromantic merchandise. But once a gibbet stood on Wapping\u003cbr\u003eWharf, and pirates were hanged upon it. It was the first convenient\u003cbr\u003eharborage for inbound ships to dispose of this dirty deep-sea cargo.\u003cbr\u003eSo it was the somber motif of a pirate's life--his moment of\u003cbr\u003ereflection after he had slit his victim's throat._\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e_Tonight, although your beards grow long and Time has marked its net\u003cbr\u003eof wrinkles--tonight, the years spin backwards. Only the young in\u003cbr\u003eheart will catch the slender meaning of our play._\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e_We are too quick to think that childhood passes with the years--that\u003cbr\u003eits fine fancy is blunted with the practice of the world. Too long\u003cbr\u003ehave we been taught that the clouds of glory fade in the common day.\u003cbr\u003eIf a man permits, a child keeps house within his heart._","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47101077782768,"sku":"2940016070162","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940016070162","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}