The Gibson Upright

The Gibson Upright, by Booth
Tarkington

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Title: The Gibson Upright
Author: Booth Tarkington
Release Date: August 25, 2004 [EBook #13275]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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The
Gibson Upright

By
BOOTH TARKINGTON
and
HARRY LEON WILSON
1919

THE STAGE PRODUCTION OF THIS PLAY IS BY STUART
WALKER

THE GIBSON UPRIGHT

CAST OF CHARACTERS
ANDREW GIBSON, a piano factory owner
NORA GORODNA, a piano tester and socialist labor organizer
MR. MIFFLIN, a socialist journalist
CARTER, an elderly factory worker
FRANKEL, a young Jewish factory worker
SHOMBERG, a factory worker
SIMPSON, an elderly factory worker
SALVATORE, an Italian factory worker
RILEY, a truck driver

ELLA, Mr. Gibson's housemaid
MRS. SIMPSON, wife of Simpson
MRS. COMMISKEY, wife of a worker (offstage voice)
POLENSKI, a worker
FIRST WOP and SECOND WOP, workers

ACT I
ANDREW GIBSON'S office in his piano factory where he
manufactures "The Gibson Upright." A very plain interior; pleasant to
the eye, yet distinctly an office in a factory, and without luxuries;
altogether utilitarian.
Against the wall on our right is a roll-top desk, open, very neat, and in
the centre of the writing pad a fresh rose stands in a glass of water.
Near by is a long, plain table and upon it a very neat arrangement of
correspondence and a couple of ledgers.
Against the walls are a dozen plain cane-seated chairs. Near the centre
of the room is a sample of the Gibson upright piano in light wood.
There is a large safe, showing the word "Gibson," and there are filing
cases. In the rear wall there is a door with the upper half of opaque
glass, which shows "Mr. Gibson" in reverse; and near this door is a
water filter upon a stand. In the wall upon our left is a plain wooden
door. The rear door opens into the factory; the other into a hall that
leads to the street.
Upon the walls are several posters, one showing "The Gibson
Upright"--a happy family, including children and a grandparent,
exclaiming with joy at sight of this instrument. Another shows a concert
singer singing widely beside "The Gibson Upright," with an
accompanist seated. Another shows a semi-colossal millionaire, and a
workingman of similar size in paper cap and apron, shaking hands

across "The Gibson Upright," and, printed: "$188.00--The Price for
the Millionaire, the Same for Plain John Smith--$188.00." This poster
and the others all show the slogan: "How Cheap, BUT How Good!"
Nothing is new in this room, but everything is clean and accurately in
order. The arrangement is symmetrical.
As the curtain rises NORA GORODNA is seen at work on the sample
"Gibson Upright." The front is not removed; but through the top of the
piano she is adjusting something with a small wrench. NORA is a
fine-looking young woman, not over twenty-six; she wears a plain
smock over a dark dress. As she is a piano tester in the factory she is
dressed neither so roughly as a working woman nor perhaps so
fashionably as a stenographer. She is serious and somewhat
preoccupied. From somewhere come the sounds of several pianos
being tuned. After a moment NORA goes thoughtfully to the desk and
looks at the rose in the glass; then lifts the glass as if to inhale the
odour of the rose, but abruptly alters her decision and sets the glass
down without doing so. She returns quickly and decisively to her work
at the piano, as if she had made a determination.
A bell at the door on our left rings. NORA goes to the door and opens
it.
NORA: Good morning, Mr. Mifflin.
MIFFLIN [entering]: Good morning, Miss Gorodna.
[MIFFLIN is a beaming man of forty, with gold-rimmed eyeglasses and
a somewhat grizzled beard which has been, a week or so ago, a neatly
trimmed Vandyke. He wears a "cutaway suit," not much pressed, not
new; a derby hat, a standing collar, and a "four-in-hand" dark tie;
hard, round cuffs, not link cuffs. He carries a folded umbrella, not a
fashionable one; wears no gloves; and has two or three old magazines
and a newspaper under his arm.]
MIFFLIN: I believe I'm here just to the hour, Miss Gorodna.

NORA: Mr. Gibson has been very nice about it. He told me he would
give you the interview for your article. He's in