oliver, with a twist and turn
... I don’t have any wages. GIRL THIEF 1: Eh, but you will…once you get to a-workin’ for Fagin. He pays us coins when we bring--- BOY THIEF 5: Shhhhhhhh…Dodger’ll tell him when the time be good. OLIVER: Tell me what? BOY THIEF 6: The way to earn your keep around here! GIRL THIEF 2: That’s right—ya can’t live here high and mighty free! Don’t be fillin’ your head with fancy ideas. BOY THIEF 7: Fagin’ll be good to you, though—just do as he says. BOY THIEF 1: (POINTS AT FAGIN, WHO IS GOING THROUGH HIS BOX OF JEWELS) Look at Fagin now—he’s a-countin’ his blessings! (CHILDREN LAUGH AGAIN AND SETTLE BACK ON THEIR BLANKETS. OLIVER GETS UP FROM HIS CHAIR AND SHYLY WALKS TOWARDS FAGIN. ) FAGIN: (STARTLED) Why do you watch me? What have you seen? Speak out, my dear. OLIVER: I’m sorry if I bothered you, sir. FAGIN: Did you see any of my pretty things, Oliver? OLIVER: Yes, sir. FAGIN: Ah, well they’re mine, Oliver—all I have to live on in my old age. I keep them in this box to keep them safe, but we’ll forget you saw this, eh? (LOOKS CURIOUSLY AT OLIVER) Do you have any nice things that will help you when you get to be my age? OLIVER: Only this. (SHOWS FAGIN HIS SATCHEL) It belonged to my mother. FAGIN: (VERY INTRIQUED) Oh, oh my…do you mind, dear Oliver, if I see what’s inside? OLIVER: It’s a locket and a ring. FAGIN: A locket and a ring, you say? (SO EXCITED HE CAN BARELY CONTAIN HIMSELF. EMPTIES SATCHEL INTO HIS HAND, STUDIES JEWELRY, HOLDING IT TO LIGHT, TESTING WEIGHT, ETC) Oh, indeed…solid gold…my, my… OLIVER: My mother’s name is engraved inside the ring. (SOUNDING A LITTLE SAD) It was Agnes. FAGIN: I see, I see…and what about the date? There’s a date engraved, too. OLIVER: It was one year before I was born. FAGIN: Oliver, dear, these are treasures. (MOVES TO PUT THEM IN HIS BOX) We’ll store them with my things. OLIVER: (HESITANT) Well, I don’t know… FAGIN: You can’t carry these around—you’ll be robbed blind! Let me guard them—you can look at them anytime you want. OLIVER: I suppose you’re right, sir—and sir? You’re kind to spend your money feeding all these children. FAGIN: Yes, well--- (NANCY, BETSY “BET” AND CHARLEY BATES ENTER) FAGIN: Why, here are more of my children. Nancy, Bet and Charlie—come meet our new boy, Oliver. (THE THREE COME OVER AND STUDY OLIVER CAREFULLY) BET: He’s a different kind of boy, Fagin. FAGIN: (IGNORING BET’S COMMENT) I hope you have been at work, my dears. CHARLEY: We’ve been working hard as nails! (PULLS JEWELS FROM HIS POCKETS) NANCY: (POINTS AT OLIVER) I ‘pose you’re gonna put this one to work, too, eh Fagin? (SHE SMILES AT OLIVER AND WIPES DIRT FROM HIS FACE) Well, he ain’t one of us, you know! Wipe away the dirt, and you can see this boy is innocent and good! FAGIN: (TO CHARLEY) Take Oliver to the others, and teach him a game of cards. (AS CHARLEY AND OLIVER LEAVE, FAGIN TURNS TO NANCY) What upsets you, dear Nancy? NANCY: You, Fagin! You’re gonna turn that boy into a thief and a liar—just like you did to me! FAGIN: And haven’t I always been good to you? (LOOKS AT BET) And you, too, my dear Bet? BET: You’ve done to me what you’ve done to Nancy. We’ve been stealin’ since we was little girls! NANCY: Such is our way of life! And you (POINTS AT FAGIN) are the wicked man who drove us to this life—and you’ll keep us here until we die! (NANCY STORMS OUT, BUT BET JOINS THE OTHER THIEVES. FAGIN CLAPS HIS HANDS AND LOOKS AT THEM.) FAGIN: Come now, my dears—it’s time to practice our game. MOST OF THE CHILDREN WALK OVER TO FAGIN. BET, GIRL THIEVES 1, 2 AND 3, AND BOY THIEVES 8, 9, & 10 STAY BACK.) GIRL THIEF 3: (TO BET) Is the new boy going to play, too? BET: Fagin’ll just let him watch for now. (LOOKS TOWARDS OLIVER AND SIGHS) I don’t think Oliver is gonna fit into this life. BOY THIEF 8: He can’t leave us, though! BOY THIEF 9: He knows our hide-out! BOY THIEF 10: Fagin’ll never let him go now! BET: (LOOKS NERVOUSLY TOWARDS FAGIN, THEN BACK AT THIEVES) Hush now…you’ll have Fagin thinkin’ we don’t appreciate the food he puts on our table. GIRL THIEF 1: Miss Bet, are we really as lucky as Fagin says? BET: (HESITATES) Well, we’re lucky we aren’t starving to death. GIRL THIEF 2: As long as we mind our ways, our stomachs are never empty. BET: (LOOKS AWAY) Only our hearts are empty. (QUICKLY LOOKS BACK AT THIEVES AND HURRIES THEM TO FAGIN) Hustle now—Fagin’s a-waiting. (LIVELY MUSIC UP AS FAGIN FILLS HIS POCKETS WITH SCARVES, WATCHES, AN EYEGLASS CASE, OTHER VALUABLES. HE THEN WALKS AROUND, ACTING LIKE AN UNKNOWING CITIZEN. THE CHILDREN, EXCEPT OLIVER, FOLLOW AND TRY TO REMOVE THINGS FROM HIS POCKETS. SOMETIMES HE CATCHES THEM, SOMETIMES HE DOESN’T. AMAZED OLIVER WATCHES.) (MUSIC FADES) FAGIN: Very good, my dears. (THE CHILDREN CHEER AND RUN OUT, EXCEPT FOR OLIVER) OLIVER: Where have they gone, sir? FAGIN: Why, they’ve gone to work, Oliver. Learn to be like them, especially the Dodger. He’ll be a great man one day, and he’ll teach you to be one, too. OLIVER: I will, sir. FAGIN: Is there a handkerchief hanging out of my pocket? OLIVER: Yes, there is. FAGIN: See if you can take it out. And careful, Oliver—I must not feel a thing! (OLIVER CAREFULLY REMOVES THE HANDKERCHIEF) FAGIN: Well, I never saw a sharper lad. (HANDS OLIVER A COIN) Here’s a coin for you. OLIVER: Thank you, sir! FAGIN: (SQUEEZES OLIVER’S SHOULDER) If you go on like this, Oliver, you’ll be the greatest man of all time. (CURTAINS CLOSE) SCENE V—OLIVER GOES TO WORK—AND FINDS A NEW LIFE? (CURTAINS REMAIN CLOSED) NARR: For weeks to come, Oliver stayed with Fagin, watching him and the other children play their strange game. One day, Fagin told Oliver that he was ready to go to work. He sent him out with Charley Bates and the Artful Dodger, who were to teach him new job… (CURTAINS OPEN. STREETS OF LONDON. ONE BUILDING PROP WILL CONCEAL A TABLE WHERE JUDGE FANG WILL LATER APPEAR. SEVERAL LADIES AND GENTLEMEN ARE MILLING ABOUT, INCLUDING RICH MR. BROWNLOW WHO IS LOOKING THROUGH A STACK OF BOOKS. THE BOOKSTORE OWNER STANDS BESIDE HIM.) DODGER: It’s about time you started earnin’ your keep, Oliver Twist. OLIVER: What kind of job are you going to teach me? CHARLEY: Oh, we’re in the business of collecting valuables. (HE AND DODGER SNICKER) (NANCY RUNS UP AND GRABS OLIVER BY THE SHOULDERS) NANCY: Run now, boy! Before it’s too late! OLIVER: But Dodger and Charley are going to teach me my new job. (PROUDLY) I’m going to collect valuables, Miss Nancy. NANCY: (GLARES AT CHARLEY AND DODGER) That’s what they call it, eh? OLIVER: Fagin says I’ll be the greatest man of all time. NANCY: Oh Oliver, you’re greener than a spring grasshopper! I wish I could help you! (UPSET, SHE RUNS OFF STAGE) CHARLEY: (NUDGES DODGER AND POINTS AT MR. BROWNLOW’S POWDERED WIG) Lookie, Dodger. Is that a live sheep on his head? DODGER: That or a fancy wig—and do ya think it would look good on me? (ADOPTS A VOICE OF AIRS, STRUTS BACK AND FORTH) Oh, woe is me—the queen invited me for scones, but here I am…stuck among the paupers… CHARLEY: Well, me thinks his silk handkerchief would look good on Fagin. DODGER: Me thinks you’re right. (TURNS TO OLIVER) Now Oliver, there’s one rule to your new job—don’t get caught! (CLEARS THROAT, TUGS AT COLLAR) Let me demonstrate. (HE WALKS TO MR. BROWNLOW AND LIFTS HIS HANDKERCHIEF. HE HANDS IT TO CHARLIE AND THEY RUN OFF. OLIVER: (TO AUDIENCE, SHOCKED AND ANGRY) So that’s what they do for Fagin—they steal! MR. BROWNLOW: (REALIZING HIS HANDKERCHIEF IS GONE) Stop, thief! (OLIVER, SCARED, TRIES TO RUN BUT PEOPLE GATHER AROUND HIM. MR. BROWNLOW HANGS BACK. ONE VERY CREEPY LOOKING MAN IN A BLACK CAPE STEPS OUT AND GRABS OLIVER BY THE COLLAR. HIS NAME IS MONKS. WHEN BOBBIES 5,6,7, AND 8 SHOW UP, HE SHOVES OLIVER AT THEM. MONKS: Here’s your thief! Throw him in jail! (MONKS HURRIES OFF STAGE) BOBBY 3: Thought you’d escape, eh, you little pickpocket? OLIVER: It wasn’t me—it was two other boys! BOBBY 4: We’ll let Judge Fang decide whose guilty! (STARTS TUGGING AT OLIVER) OLIVER: It wasn’t me!! MR. BROWNLOW: (STEPPING FORWARD) Don’t hurt the boy! LADY 1: But Mr. Bownlow—he just robbed you! MR. BROWNLOW: (SHAKING HEAD) There’s something in that boy’s face… LADY 2: It’s guilt, Mr. Brownlow, guilt! BROWNLOW: No, there’s something familiar that touches me. I wonder…could he be innocent? BOBBY 3: Judge Fang will decide, he will! Come now, lad—off to learn your fate! (PUSH ASIDE BUILDING PROP, REVEALING TABLE AND A BALLIF. PEOPLE GATHER AROUND, BUT DON’T BLOCK THE TABLE) BALLIF: All rise for Judge Fang! GENTLEMAN: All due respect, bailiff, but we’re already standing. BALLIF: Oh, well—everyone—keep standing for Judge Fang! (FEROUSCIOUS JUDGE FANG STORMS IN, MAKING MUCH COMMOTION—STOMPING, GRUNTING, SLAMMING HIS GAVEL ON THE TABLE) FANG: Order in the court! (SLAM!) Order! BOBBY 4: (PUSHES OLIVER FORWARD) Your honor—this boy stole an expensive handkerchief from this fine gentleman. (POINTS AT BROWNLOW) FANG: Three months of hard labor! (SLAM!) Clear the court! OLIVER: I didn’t do it! (EMPTIES POCKETS) See—I don’t have his handkerchief! BROWNLOW: Your honor— FANG: (SLAM!) What?! (SLAM!) BROWNLOW: The boy might be innocent. FANG: Stuff and nonsense! LADY 3: Take the boy away—we don’t need his kind running loose on the streets! (BOOKSTORE OWNER STEPS FORWARD) BOOKOWNER: I must speak your honor! FANG: Whatever you’re going to say…I (SLAM!) don’t (SLAM!) care! (SLAM!) BOOKOWNER: I will not be turned away. I saw the pick-pocket! I know the truth! LADY 3: Hmmph! And just what did you see that the rest of us didn’t? BROWNLOW: (POINTS TO BOOKSTORE OWNER) Your honor, let this person speak. (FANG ROLLS HIS EYES, TOSSES HANDS IN THE AIR) BOOKOWNER: I own the bookstore. Another boy did the robbery. (PLACES HAND ON OLIVER’S SHOULDER.) It wasn’t this one. FANG: Then the boy is free to go. Clear (SLAM!) the (SLAM!) court! (SLAM!) (ON FANG’S LAST “SLAM”, GAVEL FLIES FROM HIS HAND. BALLIF FALLS TO THE FLOOR) LADY 3: Why, he’s fallen like London Bridge! GENTLEMAN: More like Humpty-Dumpty! FANG: (PEERING OVER AT BALLIF) Let him lie there. He’ll soon tire of that! (SLAMS FIST) Clear the court! (EVERYONE SCRAMBLES EXCEPT FOR OLIVER AND MR. BROWNLOW) OLIVER: I…I didn’t steal your handkerchief, sir. BROWNLOW: (SPEAKS KINDLY) I know…now, may I return you to your parents? OLIVER: (SADLY) I don’t have parents, sir. BROWNLOW: Poor boy, poor boy! Come—I’m going to take you home with me. (CURTAINS CLOSE) INTERMISSION SCENE VI—THE THIEVES ARE WORRIED (CURTAINS REMAIN CLOSED) NARR: Oliver rode in a fine carriage to the fine house of Mr. Brownlow. Meanwhile, Dodger and Charlie hurried back to Fagin’s hideout, thinking that Oliver had been arrested… (CURTIANS OPEN, FULL LIGHTS. FAGIN STANDS BEFORE FIREPLACE, STIRRING A POT. DODGER AND CHARLEY STUMBLE IN, BREATHLESS) FAGIN: Hello, my dears. Care for some stew? (LOOKS CONCERNED) Where is Oliver? CHARLEY: The police have him! FAGIN: (ANGRY) No! (FLINGS THE POT OFF STAGE. FROM OFF STAGE, AN ANGRY VOICE YELLS, “THANK YOU! I WILL HAVE SOME STEW!” EVIL BILL SYKES ENTERS, SHAKING STEW OFF HIMSELF.) FAGIN: Well, well then—my dear business partner, Bill Sykes. You seem a little angry, Bill. BILL: I am—because I’m wearing someone’s stew! (CALLS OVER SHOULDER) Bulls-Eye, you old mutt! Come in! (BULLS-EYE, A WHITE, DIRTY, SHAGGY DOG SLINKS IN) BILL: (TO DOG) Don’t be sneaking around as if you was ashamed of your master. (SHOVES DOG WITH FOOT) Go do something useful! (BULLS-EYE GOES TO CHAIR AND LIFTS LEG) BILL: Not that! (BULLS-EYE CURLS UP AND LAYS BESIDE CHAIR. BILL SITS IN CHAIR AND LOOKS AT FAGIN) BILL: What are you up to, Fagin? Treating the children mean, you old crook? FAGIN: The police have Oliver Twist. I’m afraid he’ll say something that’ll get us in trouble. BILL: (JUMPS UP, GRABS FAGIN BY COLLAR) That means the game will be up for us! (RELEASES FAGIN) Oliver Twist must be taken care of, but first…we need to find out what’s happened to him. (NANCY AND BET ENTER WITH SOME OF THE OTHER GANG MEMBERS. EVERYONE GOES AND SITS ON BLANKETS EXCEPT NANCY. NANCY: Find out what’s happened to who? FAGIN: Our dear Oliver. The police have him. BET: (CALLS FROM BLANKET) No! He was so good! BILL: Nancy, go to the police station and find out about Oliver. NANCY: (SUSPCIOUS) You want to make sure he doesn’t talk. Well, I’ll not help you hurt the boy! I’ll not go, Bill. BILL: She’ll go, Fagin. NANCY: No she won’t, Fagin. BILL: Yes, she will, Fagin. (SNARLS AND GRABS NANCY) Yes, she will. Now…go! (HE PUSHES NANCY TOWARDS EXIT. BET JUMPS UP AND RUNS AFTER HER.) FAGIN: I hope that Oliver hasn’t blabbed about us—and that we still have time to shut his mouth. (CURTAINS CLOSE) SCENE VII—LIFE AT THE BROWNLOW’S (CURTAIN REMAINS CLOSED) NARR: Oliver loved staying with Mr. Brownlow and his sweet and caring housekeeper, Mrs. Bedwin. These were happy days for Oliver—quiet, neat and peaceful. To Oliver, it seemed like Heaven… (CURTAINS OPEN, FULL LIGHTS. MR. BROWNLOW’S LIVING ROOM. THERE IS A PICTURE OF A WOMAN ON THE WALL, A STACK OF BOOKS ON A TABLE. OLIVER SITS ON THE SOFA WITH MRS. BEDWIN.) OLIVER: I’m so happy to be here, Mrs. Bedwin. MRS. BEDWIN: Mercy! What a thankful child it is! What would your mother feel if she could see you now? OLIVER: Maybe she does see me. I almost feel like she can. (GETS UP, GOES TO PICTURE.) But Heaven is a long way off, and they’re too happy up there to come down to a poor boy’s side. MRS. BEDWIN: (GETS UP, GOES TO PICTURE AND TOUCHES IT) Isn’t she a pretty thing? She was the wife of Mr. Brownlow’s best friend. He painted the portrait himself. You remind me of her, Oliver. OLIVER: I wish I knew who she was. Her eyes look sad, and they seem to follow me. It’s like she wants to speak to me—but can’t. (MR. BROWNLOW ENTERS) MR. BROWNLOW: Hello, you two. What do you find yourselves up to? MRS. BEDWIN: Oliver was telling me how happy he is to be here. OLIVER: Please sir, don’t ever send me away from here! MR. BROWNLOW: You needn’t be afraid of that, Oliver, unless you give me a reason to. OLIVER: I never, never will, sir. MR. BROWNLOW: Always tell the truth Oliver…and you’ll have a friend in me as long as I’m alive. (OFF STAGE SOUND EFFECT: SOMEONE KNOCKING ON DOOR. MR. AND MRS. GRIMWIG COME WALKING IN, MR. GRIMWIG HAS A WALKING STICK AND IS LIMPING. MR: BROWNLOW: Oliver, these are my friends—Mr. And Mrs. Grimwig. MR. GRIMWIG: Look here—do you see my leg? MRS. GRIMWIG: He slipped on an orange peel left on our stairs. MR. GRIMWIG: I would bet that orange peels kill me someday. If I’m wrong, I’ll eat my own head. MRS. GRIMWIG: (LAUGHING) Did you hear him? He’ll eat his own head! MR. GRIMWIG: (TAPS WALKING STICK AND LOOKS AT OLIVER.) Hallo! What’s that? MRS. BEDWIN: This is Oliver, Mr. Brownlow’s new ward. MR. GRIMWIG: (SHOCKED) Ward? And what do you know about the boy? MR. BROWNLOW: Not much…but something makes me trust him. MRS. GRIMWIG: He’s pulling a trick on you. (TURNS TO MRS. BEDWIN) Tell me—do you count your silverware at night? MRS. BEDWIN: (INSULTED) Absolutely not! MR. GRIMWIG: You could be missing a knife or two! MR. BROWNLOW: I’ll swear to this boy’s honesty with my life! MR. GRIMWIG: And I’ll swear he’s fooling you—or I’ll eat my own head! MRS. GRIMWIG: (LAUGHING) Did you hear him—he’ll eat his own head! MR. BROWNLOW: I’ll prove that Oliver is an honest lad. Oliver, do you see that stack of books on the table? Those are very valuable books that I borrowed from the bookstore. Would you return them for me? OLIVER: Yes, sir! I won’t be gone ten minutes! MRS. BEDWIN: Bless his sweet face! MR. GRIMWIG: Give him some money, too. I dare you. MR. BROWNLOW: Very well. (GIVES MONEY TO OLIVER). MRS. GRIMWIG: We’ll just see if he comes back! MRS. BEDWIN: He will!!! MR. GRIMWIG: He’ll join the thieves on the street and laugh at all of us. If ever that boy comes back, I’ll eat my own head! (AS CURTAINS CLOSE, HEAR MRS. GRIMWIG SAYING, “DID YOU HEAR HIM? HE’LL EAT HIS OWN HEAD!) SCENE VIII— KIDNAPPED! (BACK STAGE IS DARK. FRONT LIGHTED FROM SUSPENDED CEILING LIGHTS.) OLIVER: (LAUGHING AND WALKING ALONG) I can’t wait to see Mr. Grimwig eat his own head! (NANCY, HER FACE HIDDEN BY A BIG STRAW HAT RUNS ON STAGE AND FLINGS HER ARMS AROUND OLIVER. HE DOESN’T RECOGNIZE HER AT FIRST) NANCY: Oh, my dear brother! OLIVER: Let go of me! I’m not your brother! (NANCY LIFTS HER HAT) OLIVER: Nancy! NANCY: Forgive me, Oliver—I wanted no part of this! OLIVER: No part of what? NANCY: Fagin’s plan to kidnap you! He made me go to the police, who told me you were living with Mr. Brownlow. OLIVER: He wants to give me a good life. Please Nancy—let me have it. NANCY: Fagin says I have to kidnap you, Oliver, and this is my chance. If I don’t do it…(SHUDDERS)…Fagin and Bill Sykes will hurt me. OLIVER: Let me go, Nancy! NANCY: I’ve never been so sorry about anything. (CALLS OVER SHOULDER) Here he is—my dear, lost brother! BILL: (STEPS OUT OF SHADOWS WITH BULLS-EYE) Oliver! Come home to your poor mother, you young dog! OLIVER: I don’t belong to you! BILL: (SHOVES DOG) Go on, Bulls-eye…show Oliver who he belongs to. NANCY: Keep the dog back! Come, Oliver! (SHE PULLS HIM TO HER AND THEY MOVE TOWARDS BACK OF STAGE. FULL LIGHTS COME UP, SHOWING FAGIN’S HIDE-OUT. FAGIN: (BOWING TO OLIVER) Happy to see you looking so well, my dear. The Dodger will give you another suit, so you don’t spoil that nice new one. (FAGIN GOES THROUGH OLIVER’S POCKETS AND TAKES MR. BROWNLOW’S MONEY. FAGIN: Hmmmm…as for all these books…let me see. (RUBS CHIN) You can have them, Bill. OLIVER: Those belong to my new friends. They’ll think I stole them. FAGIN: Isn’t that a pity? OLIVER: Have mercy on me and send the books back! FAGIN: (ANGRY) You’ll not give orders to me, Oliver Twist! (FAGIN RAISES A STICK TO OLIVER’S HEAD, BUT NANCY DIVES IN AND GRABS THE STICK) NANCY: You bad old man! I wish I’d been struck dead in the street before bringing Oliver back here! (DODGER AND CHARLEY ENTER) DODGER: (SMIRKING) Well, well—look at fine Mr. Oliver Twist. CHARLEY: Fancier duds I’ve never seen on a thief. OLIVER: I’m not a thief! DODGER: You should be. Work for Fagin, make your fortune. OLIVER: You’ll end up in prison, Dodger. DODGER: Why, for a feller like me, prison is a school of higher learning! Some of the world’s greatest thieves are in prison—I’ll learn from the masters! OLIVER: I’d rather live with my new friends. CHARLEY: Don’t you mean, live off your friends. (SHAKES HEAD) I could never do that to my friends. OLIVER: But you can leave your friends in the street, can’t you? And let them be arrested for what you did. FAGIN: (TURNING NICE) Speaking of arrests, dear Oliver, you were wise not to tell the police about our games. (SIGHS) I knew a boy who did that once. Poor boy got himself hanged. OLIVER: (GULPS, STEPS BACK) Hanged? FAGIN: (SHRUGS) Tragic, dear Oliver…but the boy caused his own problems by going to the police. They didn’t believe him and put a rope around his neck. (GRASPS HIS OWN THROAT) Do you know what it’s like to be hanged? NANCY: Fagin, don’t scare him! FAGIN: I’m only trying to protect him from himself. (CLAPS HANDS) Dodger! Charley! Take Oliver to the back and help him find another jacket. (BOYS LEAVE) NANCY: (TO FAGIN AND BILL) Just seeing Oliver’s good face makes me hate myself. (SHE CHARGES AT FAGIN) And it makes me hate you, too! BILL: (GRABS NANCY AND SHOVES HER) Go on, girl! Fagin and I need to talk. (NANCY JERKS AWAY FROM BILL AND STARTS TO LEAVE. AS SHE DOES, THE MYSTERIOUS MONKS ENTERS AND BUMPS INTO HER. HE MOVES ON TO FAGIN AND BILL. NANCY LOOKS SUSPICIOUSLY AT MONKS THEN CROUCHES BEHIND A CHAIR TO LISTEN TO THE MEN TALK.) FAGIN: (ANGRY, SHOCKED) And who are you? Inviting yourself in like this? MONKS: My name is Monks, and I’m here about this…this Oliver Twist. FAGIN: What do you want with Oliver…and what kind of a name is Monks? MONKS: The same kind of name as Fagin. BILL: How did you find this place? MONKS: I saw the two rascals who were with Oliver, and followed them back. BILL: And what’s your want with Oliver? MONKS: (PULLS OUT WALLET) I’ll pay you a lot of money if you turn him into a thief. (FAGIN AND BILL LOOK AT EACH OTHER CURIOUSLY) FAGIN: We could do that, but what’s it to you? MONKS: Just do it! FAGIN: Oh my…now, I don’t know…how much did you say?…and why is it again that you’re interested in Oliver? MONKS: (FED UP) Oliver Twist is my half-brother! BILL: (SURPRISED) I didn’t think the boy had any family. MONKS: He doesn’t know of me…and I want to keep it that way. (TAKES MONEY FROM WALLET AND FLIPS THROUGH IT.) Now, are you willing to talk about some plans for my half-brother? FAGIN: (LOOKS HUNGRILY AT MONEY) Come, come, Monks, my dear…let’s see what we can agree upon. (AS THE THREE FORM A HUDDLE, NANCY CRAWLS QUICKLY OFF STAGE.) CURTAINS CLOSE. SCENE VIIII—NEW FRIENDS FOR OLIVER …AND A THORN SEEKS A ROSE CURTAINS OPEN. BACK STAGE IS DARK. FRONT LIGHTED FROM SUSPENDED CEILING LIGHTS. NARR: A few weeks passed, and Fagin and Bill Sykes put Oliver to work. Bill and an evil robber named Toby Crackit decided to break into a house that had many valuable things. They made Oliver go with them… (OLIVER, BILL , BULLSEYE AND TOBY ENTER, WALKING SLOWLY, BENT OVER, AS THOUGH SPYING) OLIVER: Where are we going? TOBY: Be quiet, you dog! You’re not gonna blow this for me! OLIVER: I want to leave! BILL: You can’t! You’re the only one small enough to fit through the window. OLIVER: Fit through the window? You’re housebreaking? TOBY: Shut him up! Or else I’ll toss ‘im to the rats in the field! (SHOVES OLIVER) See how you’d like that, Mr. Do-Good-Oliver-Twist. OLIVER: Let me go die in the fields! I don’t want to steal! (BILL AND TOBY POUNCE ON HIM) BILL: Keep that mouth still! You’ll wake up the servants! (LIGHTS COME UP FULL AND TWO SERVANTS APPEAR) SERVANT 1: We’ve already been woke up!! TOBY: (LAUGHS) Look—it’s just a couple of girls. (SERVANTS GLARE AT HIM) SERVANT 2: Just a couple of girls, you say? TOBY: (SMUG, SMIRKING) That’s what I say. (POINTS TO EACH SERVANT) I’ll call you Prissy…and you Frilly. SERVANT 2: (LOOKS AT SERVANT 1) Did you hear the man, Prissy? SERVANT 1: Ay, indeed me did, Frilly. It seems he doesn’t think we could do him any harm at all. SERVANT 2: (giggles) Why, we’s as harmless as kittens. SERVANT 1: As weak as newborn chicks… SERVANT 2: No stronger than dandelions in the wind… TOBY: Shut your traps—both of you! Take us to the family valuables—NOW! SERVANT 1: (SIGHS, LEANS ON SERVANT 1) But…we’re too weak to even walk… SERVANT 2: Just a couple of girls, we are! (GIRLS POUNCE AND HUGE RUCKUS BEGINS, WITH TOBY AND BILL RUNNING INTO EACH OTHER, TRAPPING OLIVER AND BULLSEYE IN THE MIDDLE. FINALLY, BILL AND TOBY RUN, AND THE SERVANTS GRAB OLIVER AND DRAG HIM INTO THE LIVING ROOM OF WEALTHY, PROPER MRS. MAYLIE. BEHIND THE SOFA IS A PROP TO LOOK LIKE AN OPEN WINDOW. MRS. MAYLIE AND HER NIECE, ROSE, COME RUNNING ON STAGE. MRS. MAYLIE: What on earth!? SERVANT 1: Look, Mrs. Maylie! Look Miss Rose! We got us a robber, we did! SERVANT 2: The other two mutts got themselves free, but we sure had ‘em scared. OLIVER: (STRUGGLING) I’m not a robber! MRS. MAYLIE: Let him go! This poor boy could never be a robber! ROSE: Look how young he is! (ROSE AND MRS. MAYLIE LEAD OLIVER TO THE SOFA AND SIT ON EITHER SIDE OF HIM. AS THE NARRARTOR SPEAKS, THEY WASH HIS FACE, PUT A NEW JACKET ON HIM, HAVE FOOD SERVED, BRING OUT BOOKS…THIS IS TO INDICATE THE PASSAGE OF TIME. NARR: When Oliver poured out the sad tale of his life, the hearts of Rose and Mrs. Maylie were touched. Learning that Mr. Brownlow had left the country for awhile, they invited Oliver to stay with them and grew to love him more each day. Rose and Oliver became close friends, and Oliver was surprised to learn that Rose, too, had lost her family. The kind Mrs. Maylie had taken her in, calling her a niece. (OLIVER STRETCHES OUT ON THE SOFA. ROSE COVERS HIM WITH A BLANKET, THEN SHE AND MRS. MAYLIE EXIT THE STAGE.) NARR: One day, Oliver was just about to doze off, when… (FAGIN AND MONKS APPEAR IN THE WINDOW. OLIVER WAKES WITH A START AND LOUD YELL. ROSE HURRIES IN AND FAGIN AND MONKS VANISH) ROSE: Oliver! What’s the matter? OLIVER: (PANICKED) Fagin and another man were here! Looking in the window! ROSE: (RUNS TO WINDOW AND LOOKS OUT) There isn’t anyone there, Oliver! You were only dreaming. OLIVER: It seemed so real! ROSE: (GOES TO OLIVER AND COMFORTS HIM) Nobody is going to hurt you, Oliver Go on, now—run to the kitchen and get a bite to eat. (OLIVER LEAVES AND SERVANT 1 ENTERS.) SERVANT 1: You have company, Miss Rose. She’s a girl about your age—but very different from you. ROSE: (CURIOUS) Ple...