a—
GOOPER : A surgical risk.
MAE : —Uh-huh....
[Big Mama draws a breath like a dying gasp.]
REVEREND TOOKER : Tch, tch, tch, tch, tch!
DOCTOR BAUGH : Yes, it's gone past the knife.
MAE : That's why he's turned yellow, Mommy!
BIG MAMA : Git away from me, git away from me, Mae!
[She rises abruptly.]
I want Brick! Where's Brick? Where is my only son?
MAE : Mama! Did she say ' only son'?
GOOPER : What does that make me ?
MAE : A sober responsible man with five precious children!— Six!
BIG MAMA : I want Brick to tell me! Brick! Brick!
MARGARET [rising from her reflections in a corner] : Brick was so upset he went back out.
BIG MAMA : Brick!
MARGARET : Mama, let me tell you!
BIG MAMA : No, no, leave me alone, you're not my blood!
GOOPER : Mama, I'm your son! Listen to me!
MAE : Gooper's your son, Mama, he's your first-born!
BIG MAMA : Gooper never liked Daddy.
MAE [as if terribly shocked] : That's not TRUE!
[There is a pause. The minister coughs and rises.]
REVEREND TOOKER [to Mae] : I think I'd better slip away at this point.
MAE [sweetly and sadly] : Yes, Doctor Tooker, you go.
REVEREND TOOKER [discreetly] : Good night, good night, everybody, and God bless you all... on this place.... [He slips out.]
DOCTOR BAUGH : That man is a good man but lacking in tact. Talking about people giving memorial windows—if he mentioned one memorial window, he must have spoke of a dozen, and saying how awful it was when somebody died intestate, the legal wrangles, and so forth. [Mae coughs, and points at Big Mama.]
DOCTOR BAUGH : Well, Big Mama.... [He sighs.]
BIG MAMA : It's all a mistake. I know it's just a bad dream.
DOCTOR BAUGH : We're gonna keep Big Daddy as comfortable as we can.
BIG MAMA : Yes, it's just a bad dream, that's all it is, it's just an awful dream.
GOOPER : In my opinion Big Daddy is having some pain but won't admit that he has it.
BIG MAMA : Just a dream, a bad dream.
DOCTOR BAUGH : That's what lots of them do, they think if they don't admit they're having the pain they can sort of escape the fact of it.
GOOPER [with relish] : Yes, they get sly about it, they get real sly about it.
MAE : Gooper and I think—
GOOPER : Shut up, Mae!—Big Daddy ought to be started on morphine.
BIG MAMA : Nobody's going to give Big Daddy morphine.
DOCTOR BAUGH : Now, Big Mama, when that pain strikes it's going to strike mighty hard and Big Daddy's going to need the needle to bear it.
BIG MAMA : I tell you, nobody's going to give him morphine.
MAE : Big Mama, you don't want to see Big Daddy suffer, you know you—
[Gooper standing beside her gives her a savage poke.]
DOCTOR BAUGH [placing a package on the table] : I'm leaving this stuff here, so if there's a sudden attack you all won't have to send out for it.
MAE : I know how to give a hypo.
GOOPER : Mae took a course in nursing during the war.
MARGARET : Somehow I don't think Big Daddy would want Mae to give him a hypo.
MAE : You think he'd want you to do it?
[Dr Baugh rises.]
GOOPER : Doctor Baugh is goin'.
DOCTOR BAUGH : Yes, I got to be goin'. Well, keep your chin up, Big Mama.
GOOPER [with jocularity] : She's gonna keep both chins up, aren't you, Big Mama?
[Big Mama sobs.]
Now stop that, Big Mama.
MAE : Sit down with me, Big Mama.
GOOPER [at door with Dr Baugh] : Well, Doc, we sure do appreciate all you done. I'm telling you, we're surely obligated to you for—
[Dr Baugh has gone out without a glance at him.]
GOOPER : —I guess that doctor has got a lot on his mind but it wouldn't hurt him to act a little more human....
[Big Mama sobs.]
Now be a brave girl, Mommy.
BIG MAMA : It's not true, I know that it's just not true!
GOOPER : Mama, those tests are infallible!
BIG MAMA : Why are you so determined to see your
GOOPER : A surgical risk.
MAE : —Uh-huh....
[Big Mama draws a breath like a dying gasp.]
REVEREND TOOKER : Tch, tch, tch, tch, tch!
DOCTOR BAUGH : Yes, it's gone past the knife.
MAE : That's why he's turned yellow, Mommy!
BIG MAMA : Git away from me, git away from me, Mae!
[She rises abruptly.]
I want Brick! Where's Brick? Where is my only son?
MAE : Mama! Did she say ' only son'?
GOOPER : What does that make me ?
MAE : A sober responsible man with five precious children!— Six!
BIG MAMA : I want Brick to tell me! Brick! Brick!
MARGARET [rising from her reflections in a corner] : Brick was so upset he went back out.
BIG MAMA : Brick!
MARGARET : Mama, let me tell you!
BIG MAMA : No, no, leave me alone, you're not my blood!
GOOPER : Mama, I'm your son! Listen to me!
MAE : Gooper's your son, Mama, he's your first-born!
BIG MAMA : Gooper never liked Daddy.
MAE [as if terribly shocked] : That's not TRUE!
[There is a pause. The minister coughs and rises.]
REVEREND TOOKER [to Mae] : I think I'd better slip away at this point.
MAE [sweetly and sadly] : Yes, Doctor Tooker, you go.
REVEREND TOOKER [discreetly] : Good night, good night, everybody, and God bless you all... on this place.... [He slips out.]
DOCTOR BAUGH : That man is a good man but lacking in tact. Talking about people giving memorial windows—if he mentioned one memorial window, he must have spoke of a dozen, and saying how awful it was when somebody died intestate, the legal wrangles, and so forth. [Mae coughs, and points at Big Mama.]
DOCTOR BAUGH : Well, Big Mama.... [He sighs.]
BIG MAMA : It's all a mistake. I know it's just a bad dream.
DOCTOR BAUGH : We're gonna keep Big Daddy as comfortable as we can.
BIG MAMA : Yes, it's just a bad dream, that's all it is, it's just an awful dream.
GOOPER : In my opinion Big Daddy is having some pain but won't admit that he has it.
BIG MAMA : Just a dream, a bad dream.
DOCTOR BAUGH : That's what lots of them do, they think if they don't admit they're having the pain they can sort of escape the fact of it.
GOOPER [with relish] : Yes, they get sly about it, they get real sly about it.
MAE : Gooper and I think—
GOOPER : Shut up, Mae!—Big Daddy ought to be started on morphine.
BIG MAMA : Nobody's going to give Big Daddy morphine.
DOCTOR BAUGH : Now, Big Mama, when that pain strikes it's going to strike mighty hard and Big Daddy's going to need the needle to bear it.
BIG MAMA : I tell you, nobody's going to give him morphine.
MAE : Big Mama, you don't want to see Big Daddy suffer, you know you—
[Gooper standing beside her gives her a savage poke.]
DOCTOR BAUGH [placing a package on the table] : I'm leaving this stuff here, so if there's a sudden attack you all won't have to send out for it.
MAE : I know how to give a hypo.
GOOPER : Mae took a course in nursing during the war.
MARGARET : Somehow I don't think Big Daddy would want Mae to give him a hypo.
MAE : You think he'd want you to do it?
[Dr Baugh rises.]
GOOPER : Doctor Baugh is goin'.
DOCTOR BAUGH : Yes, I got to be goin'. Well, keep your chin up, Big Mama.
GOOPER [with jocularity] : She's gonna keep both chins up, aren't you, Big Mama?
[Big Mama sobs.]
Now stop that, Big Mama.
MAE : Sit down with me, Big Mama.
GOOPER [at door with Dr Baugh] : Well, Doc, we sure do appreciate all you done. I'm telling you, we're surely obligated to you for—
[Dr Baugh has gone out without a glance at him.]
GOOPER : —I guess that doctor has got a lot on his mind but it wouldn't hurt him to act a little more human....
[Big Mama sobs.]
Now be a brave girl, Mommy.
BIG MAMA : It's not true, I know that it's just not true!
GOOPER : Mama, those tests are infallible!
BIG MAMA : Why are you so determined to see your
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