Because of her career? Put it back. MAX
A masterpiece can never pall
She is the greatest star of all JOE
I thought we might cut away from the slave market… JOE
Who the hell do you think you are,
Bringing my stuff up from my apartment without consulting me? NORMA
Cut away from me? What else would they have come for? JOE
Out. MAX
Will you be requiring some supper this evening, sir? She has moments of melancholy. JOE
No. Gillis. JOE
Well, that’s tough. Madame is extremely fragile. JOE
Norma, they don’t want you in every scene

NORMA
Or course they do. MAX
Yes, sir? That is, if you want the job. Earlier this evening, she wanted you for something and you could not be found. She’s done well enough. I hope it’s not one of her weepy melodramas

MAX
We’ll be showing
One of Madam’s enduring classics
“The Ordeal of Joan of Arc”

JOE
Oh, God. Look at all the fan mail she gets every day. MAX
I don’t think you understand, Mr. MAX
Madame is quite agitated. I assume I can go out when I feel like it. MAX
I think, perhaps, sir, you will have to make up your mind to abide by the rules of this house. JOE
I’d made my first big mistake
I’d put my foot in the quicksand
It wouldn’t be a few days
Paste and scissors
This would take weeks

The house was always so quiet
Just me and Max and that organ
No one phoned and nobody ever came
And there was only one kind
Of entertainment on hand

Max, what’s on this evening? I have a life of my own – now you’re telling me I’m supposed to be a prisoner here. And Max? There have been suicide attempts. JOE
You mean you write them? We saw that last week. JOE
Why? MAX
Where have you been? JOE
I started work on the script
I hacked my way through the thicket
A maze of fragmented ramblings
By a soul in limbo
She hovered there like a hawk
Afraid I’d damage her baby

NORMA
What’s that? MAX
I wouldn’t look too closely at the postmarks if I were you.